Nature & Terroir
Soil, climate and diversity as the basis of structure and freshness.
What is laid down in the vineyard cannot be produced later in the cellar. These texts show why.
What is laid down in the vineyard cannot be produced later in the cellar. These texts show why.
Ecological resilience
In viticulture, ecological resilience is often equated with resistance. This refers to a vineyard's ability to "withstand" drought, heavy rain, or pest pressure. This oversimplification...
Left vs. right bank
Left bank and right bank are the two big drawers Bordeaux is often sorted into: the left bank with the Médoc and Graves, gravelly soils...
Phenolic ripeness
Phenolic maturity is often treated as a measurable target: reached or missed, "green" or "ripe." This view underestimates the complexity. In context, phenolic maturity describes...
Minerality in wine
Minerality is one of the most frequently used and yet least defined terms in wine terminology. In context, it is less a cause than a...
Texture
Texture describes how a wine feels in the mouth – not what it tastes like. It's a matter of mouthfeel: whether a wine feels creamy,...
Integration
In wine, integration describes the state where acidity, tannin, alcohol, and aroma no longer stand out individually but are perceived as a cohesive impression. You...
Finish
The finish is the impression a wine leaves after you've swallowed it – and it often reveals more about its drinkability than any vintage year....
Plot division: sense and nonsense
In viticulture, vineyard parcelling is often presented as a quality indicator. Separately vinified single vineyard sites are considered an expression of particular precision. This equation...
Reading the place: terroir as a task
Terroir is frequently used in wine as an argument for origin. It refers to a geographical identity that supposedly guarantees quality. This interpretation is convenient...
Climate change and ripeness
Climate change in wine is not only pushing alcohol content upward, but above all shifting the timelines of ripening: the sugar in the berry now...
Biodiversity: the quiet buffer
Biodiversity is often described as an ecological ideal in viticulture. This refers to the greatest possible diversity of plants and animals around the vineyard. This...
Structure
Structure is the framework of a wine: the interplay of acidity, tannin, alcohol, and extract that gives it backbone. It doesn't describe what a wine...
Selection in the vineyard
Selection in the vineyard is often understood as particularly strict selection. This refers to the removal of individual grapes or the reduction of the harvest...
Terroir as a system
Terroir in wine is often reduced to soil type. Limestone, clay, or gravel are then considered the decisive explanation for style and quality. This simplification...
Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux
Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux is a red-wine-only appellation on the right bank of the Garonne: a band 60 kilometres long and barely five kilometres wide,...
Great vintage
A great Bordeaux vintage arises less from good weather than from a particular sequence: an even flowering in June, a summer that keeps the vines...
Bordeaux Blanc
Die weißen Trauben kommen zuerst herein, oft noch im Dunkeln, und zwischen der Entscheidung und der Lese liegen selten mehr als ein paar Tage. Weißwein...
Grape varieties
On the cellar floor the varieties stand apart, each in its own vessel, and after a few minutes in the glass the difference between them...
Organic, HVE & natural wine
The four terms often appear side by side on the same wine list, yet each of them checks something different. Organic is regulated at European...