Comments on: Terroirs or not terroirs: that is the question

By: jj v

jj v — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:59:43 +0000

THATS IT —- !!!! IM DITCHING WORK & GONNA GO EATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

By: spiltwine

spiltwine — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:22:25 +0000

@scandi…all I ask for is consistency!

By: spiltwine

spiltwine — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:19:51 +0000

@Donald funny how the assumption is made but not surprising.
I kind of like a bit of volatility in my wines btw…but too much, as you say, is off putting.

By: scandilicious

scandilicious — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:32:58 +0000

What a feast! I have to say I had mixed views of Terroirs over the past year – one time I went it was a bit blah, the next time it was amazing, the time after that a bit blah, etc. When it’s good it’s REALLY good, and I’m glad you revisited it and had such a scrumptious meal

By: Donald Edwards

Donald Edwards — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:21:53 +0000

Hey there – went to Terroirs last week and was similarly impressed, snails with bacon on pain de campagne with lots of garlicky herb sauce, then really good bavette, not fancy but damn good.
Oddly enough I was having a longish chat about natural wines with a guy called Pascal Marchand in Montpellier last Friday, and I was commenting on the way that many of them have a very characteristic volatile nose, especially the reds, lots of ethyl acetate and similar compounds (particularly with reds). A trait I increasingly find offputting, regardless of how pure the winemakers might find the rest of the wine.
Also on a similar note, I had an odd little chat with a guest in the restaurant who commented that he hated biodynamic wines, it transpired he’d tasted some natural wine at terroirs, which was (unsuprisingly) also biodynamic and made the assumtion that it was the biodynamics that gave the odd unpleasant and unusual taste.

By: spiltwine

spiltwine — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:19:54 +0000

@Fabius – thanks for reading and commenting

I was under the impression that due to the lack of antioxidants (SO2, et al) during the wine making process it was harder to keep the wine in a stable state – ie not turning to vinegar.
Since my first experience with natural wines (that was about 6 years ago and WAS vinegar) I found that a lot are oxidised, even when bottled – undrinkable in some cases.
BUT – when they are made properly and when the winemaker gets it right they are amazing!

You are absolutely correct about grape quality and cleanliness and I am sure most others will agree with you too.

I went around the last caves de pyrene tasting with a sommelier a while back…watch the video here…these guys were stunners – especially the pinot grigio —

part 1
http://www.youtube.com/user/ImbibeMag#p/u/11/Hz3IRyisTJU

part 2
http://www.youtube.com/user/ImbibeMag#p/u/10/WuLq41ZhCs0

By: Fabius

Fabius — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:02:30 +0000

Hi, as a maker of natural wines, just to say that they are not all THAT difficult to make and keep – difficult (and more expensive) yes, but by no means impossible.
Also, I don’t see why the wine should be oxidized when you open the bottle – if it’s been made and stored (and transported) properly it should be OK for up to about a year, say.
The most important things (IMHO) are the quality of the grapes, the cleanliness of your machines
and equipment and your storage conditions.
Will definitely pop into Terroirs if I’m ever in London