TRACKING THE INTERSECTION OF CULTURE, NATURE, AND PRODUCTION WRITTEN BY CALEY SHOEMAKER
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erroir: A French term often used to describe how environmental factors affect the overall character of wine crops. The Oxford Dictionary defines terroir as “the complete natural environment in which a particular wine is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography or climate.” Or alternatively: “The characteristic taste and flavor imparted to a wine by the environment in which it is produced.” Terroir was born as a wine term, defining how the soil chemistry, specific climate factors and terrain (is the altitude high? Is the vineyard on a slope?) impacted the way the grapes grow and as a result, the wines the winemaker could achieve. This definition has expanded with time to include all environmental factors. The natural yeast present in the fermentation environment, the tradition of winemaking of the region and even the techniques of the winemakers themselves
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define the terroir of each individual expression. Terroir is what sits at the intersection of culture, nature, and production. Terroir is a beautifully complex concept, with a definition that evolves with humanity, describing our unique relationship with place. Distilled spirits can offer a unique kind of terroir, though their shelf stability and our global economy have allowed them to stray far from it. Distillation was useful to our ancestors as a preservation tool, allowing an excess of fruit to become eau de vie, or the byproduct of sugar refining to become rum. These early manifestations of distillation relied on every aspect of the environment to bring them into being. This interaction between place and distilling has given us peat notes in scotch, dry gins, and a deep diversity of mezcal. As spirits production has become industrialized and global distribution has become the norm, big-brand spirits have begun to homogenize. Market-driven new product innovation often takes the form of trend chasing, with one flavored vodka after another melting into a race between RTDs. This creates a sea of similar offerings, most likely produced at a short list of facilities around the world. Each bottling is produced in large volume and sent throughout the market, reaching out to
consumers as frequently as possible to establish brand recognition. As craft distillers, competing with these ultra-cost-effective brands is difficult; most of us struggle to balance our costs and margins while producing at a smaller scale. Instead, we can preserve and celebrate our region through creating terroir in our spirits. I have found so much inspiration in exploring the interpretation of terroir by American craft distillers. Our community started with distillers innovating for the small scale. Nowhere is this more evident than at one of the oldest craft distilleries in the U.S., St. George Spirits. I got to know Dave Smith and Lance Winters during my time as their neighbor while building the Hangar 1 Distillery. The work done at St. George is a fantastic example of distillery terroir in action, and nowhere is this more evident than in their (aptly named) Terroir Gin. Here, Winters chose botanicals grown on the California coast: Douglas fir, bay laurel, fennel, sage. The team at St. George describes tasting this gin as akin to the experience of “hiking in the Coastal Range”. As I began to try to make my home in Northern California, this stuck with me — and I found myself noticing those very scent notes as my partner and I drove the coast each W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M