The Tougher the Better

There's a really interesting article running on Business Week today about how the very best of wine has a tendency to be produced by vineyards planted on challenging terrain. The phenomenon of rocky hillsides with low yields producing high quality grapes and products certainly isn't news to serious oenophiles, but it may be a surprise for newcomers to the world of wine. There are a lot of factors that contribute to these ideas. Rocky soil, higher elevations and lower evening temperatures all tend to have a positive impact on the quality of grapes produced, but the real magic is in the growers themselves. It takes a really dedicated hand to cultivate grapes in the rougher terrain, and it's the dedication these vintners put into their horticultural work that produces really fantastic product.

From Business Week:

Most of Napa Valley's pioneers planted their vineyards on the valley floor, where the soil was fertile, the land easy to work, and yields high. However, while these are conditions than can produce good wine, they rarely result in the best wine. By contrast, all over the world, you often find this wine, the very best wine, wine with what I call the WOW! factor, that ability to amaze as well as please, comes not from the flat easy plains but the more challenging hill- or mountainside elevations.