The benefits of terroir have been at the heart of countless discussions about wine for decades, with each and every country having its own definition about the meaning of this controversial terminology and its validity.

So, in an effort, to better describe this ‘minerality’ that is often described as the flavour of terroir, researchers at Aberystwyth University in Wales looked at factors in a bid to understand the chemistry of terroir, that gives the impression to a drinker that a wine tastes of different soil types and why?

Their report referred to an experiment using mass spectrometry on Pinot Noir grapes managed by the same person but lying two kilometres apart in the Côte de Nuits vineyards in Burgundy, France. The results showed notable differences in the fatty acids, cholesterols, flavanols, phenols and other compounds in both the grapes and their wine. The study considered the impact of microbes in the soil, such as mycorrhizal fungi whose symbiotic relationship with a vine is known to help it take up nutrients.

Jack A. Gilbert of the Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, remarked: “If you grew a plant without any microbes, you wouldn’t have any wine. Bacteria and fungi influence the chemical composition of the grapes and the health of the vine.”

Bacteria effects a vine’s metabolism and chemical defence against insects. But the report found that yeasts have the biggest effect on taste, aroma and texture of wine.

So I guess that raises the question: is terroir the taste of the soil or the bugs?