Terroir in Greek Wine: myth, science or unfulfilled potential?

by Professor Stefanos Koundouras

Few words in the viticultural and oenological vocabulary are used as frequently and at the same time provoke such intense debate among wine professionals as terroir. For some, it is the magical ingredient of great wines; for others, a convenient myth that conceals the reality shaped by viticultural and winemaking interventions.

And yet, terroir is neither magic nor myth... It is a concept conceived by the French to describe the authenticity and identity of certain wines that displayed distinct qualitative characteristics, which were in turn linked to their place of origin. This concept encompasses all the factors of the natural and biological environment that may influence a wine’s characteristics: the soil, the local climate, the existence of a local biotype or clone of the grape variety, and more recently, the vineyard microbiome, both that of the soil and, more importantly, that of the grape, although such an influence, however fascinating, has not yet been scientifically proven.

But to what extent does terroir truly affect the sensory characteristics of wine, especially when both the grower and, even more so, the winemaker resort to a series of additions or processes capable of significantly altering the grape’s original potential? Is terroir a concept that has become obsolete as science and technology evolve in the wine sector? And finally, what about Greek wines: do truly great vineyard sites exist in Greece, or is all this merely part of wine communication and marketing?

Let us attempt to place the discussion on a rational footing by bridging tradition with the knowledge offered by contemporary scientific research.