Terroir

French term for the sum entity and effect (no single word exists in English) of every environmental factor on a given piece of ground. Included within terroir, for example, are a vineyard’s soil, slope, orientation to the sun, and elevation, plus every nuance of climate: rainfall, wind velocity, frequency of fog, cumulative hours of sunshine, average high temperatures, average low temperatures, and so on. Each vineyard is said to have its own terroir.