A Matter of Taste - Soil: Reflections on the Basis of our Existence - page 111

A Matter of Taste

The Chardonnay grape is mainly a
tool for extracting flavour from the soil.

French saying

Abstract Does the soil give wine its taste? Do home-grown tomatoes taste bet-
ter than bought ones because they grow in the soil instead of in a nutrient solu-
tion? Here I look for answers to these questions, in scientific literature and through
conversations with tomato-growers and wine experts. Even though it is hard to
find evidence for the notion that taste comes from the soil, the character of the
soil affects the plants in various ways, which in turn can influence the taste. Many
of the chemicals that plants create when they are exposed to the sun and to the
onslaught of various parasites seem to affect taste. Limited watering of the vines
improves the wine, and the best tomatoes in Tunisia come from saline soils where
the plants are exposed to physiological drought.

Terroir—Is the Taste in the Soil?

Soil is not only a source of medicines and pest control but also widely considered
to play a key role in determining the taste and health properties of food. I vis-
ited California one summer for the Ecological Society of America's annual con-
gress, an event attended by more than 5,000 ecologists. During a break from the
lectures and symposia, I nipped out to a local bottle shop to sample a few Napa
Valley wines. I had just read The Winemaker's Dance by Jonathan Swinchatt and
David G. Howell and was fascinated by terroir , the French term to describe how
soil and microclimate interact with the type of grape and the winemaker's craft
to give a wine its quality. The topic describes the vine as a tool used to extract
taste from the soil, and the authors use the special soil conditions in the Napa
Valley to discuss how wines take on the character of the soil they grow in. “The
combination of altitude, thin volcanic soil and water scarcity provides unparal-
leled flavour and intensity”, read the text on the label of one of the off-licence's

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