Garrigue (gare-REEG)

When a wine pro describes a wine as “earthy,” the characterization can mean several different but related ideas. One of the permutations of earthiness is what the French call garrigue. Garrigue is the aroma (and by suggestion, the flavor) of the dry, sun-baked earth, combined with the scent of wild resinous plants such as thyme, rosemary, and lavender. In Provence and the Languedoc-Roussillon along the sunny French Mediterranean, the smell of garrigue often permeates the air, the wine, and even the foods.