A chemical view on wine and its terroir

Wine is considered as the product obtained exclusively from the alcoholic fermentation of grape must, but what makes a unique, high-quality wine? This is most often related to what’s known as ‘terroir’, a concept which refers to the interaction between the physical and biological environment of vines and applied vitivinicultural practices, providing distinctive characteristics in the resulting wines. For example, the smoky, flintstone flavor of sauvignon blanc wines, the petrol flavor of certain riesling wines and the unique flavors of infected, botrytized grapes can be (chemically) linked to the origin of these wines.Wine is considered as the product obtained exclusively from the alcoholic fermentation of grape must, but what makes a unique, high-quality wine? This is most often related to what’s known as ‘terroir’, a concept which refers to the interaction between the physical and biological environment of vines and applied vitivinicultural practices, providing distinctive characteristics in the resulting wines. For example, the smoky, flintstone flavor of sauvignon blanc wines, the petrol flavor of certain riesling wines and the unique flavors of infected, botrytized grapes can be (chemically) linked to the origin of these wines.