Terroir, ‘the very soul of the wine’
There is perhaps no more confusing and contested word in the world of wine than “terroir” (pronounced “tare-WAHR”). This is probably because there is no direct translation from the French; no one word in English that means exactly the same thing.
Terroir is, quite simply, the totality of a wine's origin. It is the term for describing the effects on the wine of such disparate yet interrelated aspects as soil, weather, wind, climate, water and all the minutia that make a wine characteristically Bordeaux (or Mendoza, or Napa, or Marlborough, etc.). It is the overall placeness of the wine. Since the etymology of the word is from the French (by way of Latin) “terre” meaning “earth,” perhaps the closest we could get in English would be “earthness.”
Every region, and every subregion, and every individual vineyard has characteristics that make it unique. It may have soil of a certain type and subsoil of this or that mineral. Some vineyards are parched dry, others have moisture but drain well. If they are too wet, they are likely to be turned to some other use. Many are on hillsides, which affects not only drainage but also exposure to sun and wind depending on the face of the slope. Some wind makes for strong, durable vines, but too much can buffet and damage grape clusters. Direct sun ripens grapes quickly, but they need frequent cooling so the sugars develop character and intensity.
Recently, the American public was issued a challenge by the folks at KFC (formerly "Kentucky Fried Chicken," but "fried" just 
