“Wine is sunlight held together by sunlight.” -Gallileo Gallilei
Where grapes are grown can have a huge impact on taste.
Grapes need five elements to ripen into fruit worthy of wine: sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, nutrients and warmth.
Sunlight
Water – How does rainfall affect winegrapes?
Rain is key to ensuring vine growth and quality fruit development, but overwatering can be an issue too.
Vines are resilient and actually thrive when they need to struggle. Thirsty roots dig deeper into the soil resulting in more complex flavors. Luckily for the Pacific Northwest, many Oregon vineyards don’t even need to irrigate, which helps conserve water and reduce overall impact on the planet.
Carbon Dioxide
Nutrients
Warmth
But the types of these elements can vary region to region. The Pacific Northwest alone has many diverse regions, each with their own unique climate.
Hours of sunlight, soil type, vineyard altitude, rain, fog and temperature all contribute to the uniqueness of each wine. This uniqueness has long been known as “terroir.”
I’ll be exploring the various appellations of the PNW and how terroir plays a role in these gorgeous wines.
