Wine 101: Wine, Explained Well

Terroir is the way a place shapes a wine: its climate, soil, landscape and living things, and the knowledge the people there built up about farming it and making wine from it. This guide checks seven common beliefs about terroir against published research, from soil and old vines to microbes, climate change and wine law.

A deep examination of how phenolic maturity shapes wine quality, from vineyard development to harvest decisions and cellar consequences. Introduction Every harvest decision comes down to…

Soil affects wine through the water, warmth and nutrients it gives the vine. The grapes do not take on the taste of the minerals in the soil. This guide covers nine soil types, from limestone and clay to slate and volcanic rock, and the wines grown on each.

Organic wine is made from certified organic grapes and vinified under organic rules that limit additives and sulfites. In the US, a wine labeled organic has no added sulfites, and one labeled made with organic grapes can have up to 100 parts per million. In the EU, organic wine can contain added sulfites, at lower limits than conventional wine.

Biodynamic wine is wine made from grapes farmed biodynamically, a farming method based on lectures Rudolf Steiner gave in 1924. Growers treat the farm as one living organism and use nine preparations made from cow manure, quartz and plants. Private certifiers, mainly Demeter and Biodyvin, set the rules for the vineyard and the cellar.

Organic farming represents one of the most significant shifts in modern agriculture, moving away from dependence on synthetic chemicals toward practices that work in harmony with…

Terroir is the favorite word of winemakers, vignerons, sommeliers, and wine lovers. It's used in various contexts and sometimes with shifting meaning. But what does terroir…