The Influence of Growing Conditions;
Vintage and “Terroir”
Pampered Vines Don’t Make the Best Wines
As Pliny observed 2,000 years ago, “the same
vine has a different value in different places.”
The quality of grapes, and of the wine made
from them, is influenced by the conditions in
which the grapes grow and mature. To
produce a decent wine, the grapes must ripen
to an adequate sweetness, and so the vine
must get enough sun, warmth, minerals, and
water. On the other hand, abundant water
produces watery fruit, abundant soil nitrogen
produces excess foliage that shades the fruit
and gives it odd flavors, and abundant sun and
warmth produce fruit with plenty of sugar but
reduced acidity and aroma compounds, and
thus a strong but flat wine.
Vintage Wines The grapes that make the best
wines seem to be produced in a narrow range
of conditions — barely adequate water,