Word: terroir
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Mondovino’s subjects are driven alternately by money, fame, winelust, and terroir, the film’s untranslatable but ubiquitous term meaning something between “soil” and “heartland.” The film itself is driven by its energetic camerawork, tantalizing leads, and a madcap soundtrack ranging from vintage French cabaret to the Kinks. Adventurous moviegoers should be driven by curiosity and the desire to stray from the well-beaten Hollywood track, and they will not be disappointed...
...that Tuber indicum is very dominant, competitive and aggressive," frets Gerard Chevalier, a researcher at INRA. He paints a scenario in which errant spores from imported Chinese truffles disperse into the air, contaminate the French countryside and do ecological battle with their more fragile cousin. Already, the ancient truffle terroir is being hammered by pesticides and urbanization. Two centuries ago, French black truffles were so abundant that they were cheaper than tomatoes; yet since then, the average annual harvest in the P?rigord region and beyond has declined from some 1,800 tons to 50 tons. An influx of Chinese truffle...
...wineries producing 119 million liters annually, New Zealand wines have come a long way since the first Sauvignon Blanc was harvested in Marlborough a mere 30 years ago. Mild, fruity whites are what the country is most associated with, but the long-held perception that New Zealand's terroir isn't suited to reds has finally been overcome by a number of wineries producing world-class Pinot Noir. The silt-loam soils of New Zealand yield a Pinot Noir somewhere between the robust Australian reds beloved of influential American critic Robert Parker and the more complex Bordeaux wines. Some Kiwi...
...adjectives as they decant a product the audience can only enjoy vicariously? No thanks. "That would have been worse than the cheesiest porn film," he says. Luckily, Nossiter, 43, overcame his reluctance. Mondovino, his documentary about globalization's impact on the winemaking business, is a quirky, subversive defense of Terroir: the idea that every wine ought to be a unique expression of the specific combination of sun, soil and human sweat that went into its creation. Nossiter doesn't do Michael Moore-style voice-overs. Instead he uncorks his views through his characters' stubborn devotion to wine. The 21/4-hour film...
Grower champagnes capture the terroir--the unique flavors derived from specific parcels of land--which is often blended away by the big brands in their striving to maintain a consistent house style. The small growers prefer to keep their wines original, and they are often less bound by convention. Chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, for example, are the usual grapes found in champagne; L. Aubry uses the obscure grapes fromenteau, arbanne and petit meslier for some of its champagnes. Fleury Pere & Fils adopts organic and biodynamic growing methods, which it claims open "the soil and vines to cosmic influences...