10.8

Percentage of alcohol by volume of a new beer based on a famous medieval recipe created by the monks of Grimbergen Abbey in Belgium. The recipe was thought to be lost when the monastery was badly burned during the French Revolution. However, volunteers recently found books that had survived in the monastery’s library and they translated the old recipes. Grimbergen Abbey beer can now be brewed once again.

A wine that tastes of “gout de terroir” usually tastes earthy.

Answer: False.

I love the French term gout de terroir, but like so many French expressions, it exits some place halfway between the literal and the romantic. Gout de terroir (literally taste of the terroir) is the distinctive flavor a wine acquires from the combination of a given grape variety grown in a specific place. Over time, for example, winemakers notice that a certain variety (say, cabernet sauvignon), from a certain plot of ground always has the same discernable flavors--pepperyness, blueberryness, or whatever. That’s gout de terroir. So for some wines the gout de terroir may indeed be earthy; but not for others.

Cathy Corison is always one of the first winemakers to harvest in the Napa Valley. When we asked her about perfect ripeness, here’s what she said:

“Waiting to pick so long that the bright red and blue flavors are gone, along with most of the natural acidity, is not my idea of ripeness. Once those have departed, you can’t get them back. I often hear it said that ‘the flavors aren’t there yet’ when, for my style of wine, they’ve come and gone.”

—Cathy Corison, Winemaker/Owner Corison Vineyards, Napa Valley

10.8

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