On Food and Cooking

drain away from the roots, and absorb and
release the sun’s heat to the vine in different
ways. A south-facing slope can increase the
exposure to autumn sunlight by 50% over a
planting on level ground, and thus extend the
growing season and accumulation of flavor
compounds.
The wine connoisseur enjoys detecting and
marveling at the expression of terroir in
wines, the palpable differences in the wines
made from neighboring vineyards. The
winemaker, on the other hand, generally tries
to manage and minimize the effects of less
than ideal terroirs and vintages. There’s
nothing new about this effort to make the best
of things. The French have been adding sugar
to their fermenting grapes for centuries to
compensate for incomplete ripening. What’s
new nowadays is the degree to which the
grape composition can be manipulated after
harvest, so that the wine becomes less the
product of a particular place and year, and