Terroir and underestimated white Bordeaux
Recently I learnt about an Indian IT millionaire who co-owns a vineyard in his home country. He had been buying grands crus from Bordeaux, started to love them, decided he wanted to create similar wines in India and planted Cabernet and Merlot. I do not know the precise characteristics of the area, but I would be surprised if these grape varieties would be ideal for that Southern region. And there it is: the concept of terroir – in future postings I will further explore this complex but key concept. In any case, (micro) climate is an important aspect of terroir, and the climate in India is obviously not similar to that of Bordeaux. I would suggest this wealthy man to import cuttings of more heat resistant varieties like Mourvèdre, Grenache, Tempranillo and Primitivo. Then – provided that he also takes the soil into account – he maybe could obtain wines not only of good quality, but also of great character and originality. And that brings me to white Bordeaux. Whereas the terroir of t