We propose terroir as the wine world's most abused word/terminology. And, at worst, it may even be an expression of chauvinism.

Right, now that we've got a couple of slightly profound, but probably 'anorak-y', statements off our chests, let's explain.

Terroir is the sum total of soil and climate (of course neglecting the all-important human intervention at all stages of grape growing and wine making). Nothing wrong with that, and where the grapes are grown certainly influences the final outcome of the wine. However, the whole thing gets very abstract when tasters start talking about tasting the terroir in the wine (or something along those lines). In many cases, that much-revered “terroir” is nothing more than the taint of 'brett'.

Chauvinism comes into play in France – probably for good reason – in the way that legislation dictates which grape varieties may be grown in which regions. Having said that, it would take a rather daft vigneron to rely on legislation to stop him growing cabernet in Champagne (there would have to be some pretty serious climate change to ripen cabernet grapes in Champagne).

What we're getting it, is that the Cloof terroir often gets lauded for its fabulous shiraz (for good reason, we believe). However, our tally of gold medals, four-star ratings and airline business class selections also includes wines made from pinotage, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and chenin blanc. That's quite a range of over-achievers from one 'terroir'!