Terroir Review – Award-winning commentary on food, wine, and place

Castello di Gabbiano

Features, Italy

The Wine Comes First

by Meg Maker

Wine has been grown on this Tuscan hilltop for centuries. Not the same wine.

Landscape of St. Chinian

Essays, Features

An Apologia for Terroir in an Era of Tribalism

Barolo landscape

Features, Italy

The Piedmont Diaries

Features, France, Visual Essays

Six Women of Languedoc Wine

Features, Portugal, Visual Essays

Whither Port?

Features, Reference, Wine Science

What is Malolactic Fermentation?

Features, Reference, Wine Science

Acidity In Wine

Terroir Review

A journal of nature, culture, food, wine, and place About Terroir Review

All features

Profiles, essays, travelogues, tasting roundups, and more

Castello di Gabbiano

The Wine Comes First

Meg Maker Shortlisted for World Food Photography Awards

Landscape of St. Chinian

An Apologia for Terroir in an Era of Tribalism

Barolo landscape

The Piedmont Diaries

Six Women of Languedoc Wine

Charlotte de Béarn with her wine in Terrasses du Larzac

Charlotte de Béarn

Isabelle Champart outside her winery

Isabelle Champart

Noémie Vidil at a tasting of St. Chinian white wines

Noémie Vidil

Céleste Renault opening bottles of Picpoul wine

Céleste Renault

Corinne Woodland and Nathalie Caumette

Corinne Woodland and Nathalie Caumette

Drawing of a range of wine bottles stylized with flowers

A Rose by Every Other Name

Meg Maker in her office

Interview With Meg Maker on the New Languages of Wine

View Features

Essays

Award-winning narratives on wine, food, and place by Meg Maker Read more

PRESS, AWARDS & SPEAKING

VIEW ALL ACCOLADES

Food

Terroir-driven foods (including lots of cheese) READ ALL FOOD STORIES & REVIEWS

megmaker

Serving size: one spear #asparagus #gardening #or

Serving size: one spear

#asparagus #gardening #organicgardening #springishere

Scarlet tanager, paper birch, blue sky at last. #

Scarlet tanager, paper birch, blue sky at last.

#bird #birds #birdphotography

Well, I’ve done it. I’ve launched a Substack.

Well, I’ve done it. I’ve launched a Substack.

It’s called Plain Stories, and it considers, at least for now, the art and craft of nonfiction writing.

I’ve been contemplating this move for months — years! — and finally decided just to start. Not to overthink. Not to overplan. Just — to start. And to let it take me where it wants to go.

That’s what I did in 2008 when I launched Terroir Review. I just — started. And let it take me where it wanted to go. And where it took me was all over the world.

I’ve got two pieces up now, and there will be a new essay every week. For now the thing is all free, but in the spirit of Substack, and to appease my mortgage lender, I will add paid subscription.

I hope you enjoy following along and seeing where it takes us both.

Link in bio and https://megmaker.substack.com/

#writing #nonfiction #creativewriting #creativenonfiction #writer #writers #writingcraft

Dawn chorus. Sound on! #migration #springmigratio

Dawn chorus. Sound on!

#migration #springmigration #birds #birder #birdsofinstagram #dawnchorus #warbler #warblers #finch #wren #newengland #birdsofinsta

My whole heart. Ella Jane. #cats #catsoninstagram

My whole heart. Ella Jane.

#cats #catsoninstagram #cat #cats_of_instagram #tabbycat

From Gabbiano’s terrace, the landscape falls awa

From Gabbiano’s terrace, the landscape falls away, green and undulating, scumbled with forest and vineyards and dotted with blocks of habitation. Across these rippling valleys the land rises up again, and in the blue distance, pierces the sky with poplar trees and yet more stone towers. It feels as if the landscape tips back toward you like a mirror, reminding you that you are not alone, you are both seeing and being seen, watching and being watched.

This is the wine territory now called Chianti Classico. Named regions are a relatively modern idea, designed to codify, in legal and practical terms, the grapevines, yields, blending and aging protocols, and all the other minutiae that go into making a bottle of wine. In the old days, people made wine with whatever vines they had. Around here, in 1000 B.C.E., the vine was Vitis vinifera sylvestris and the people were the Etruscans, who harvested grapes from wild vines twining up trees, stomping them in stone troughs and aging the wine in clay.

Read more in “The Wine Comes First”:
https://terroirreview.com/2025/04/23/the-wine-comes-first/

Or link in bio #wine #winewriting #vino #vinoitaliano #italianwine #chianticlassico #sangiovese #tuscany #toscana #memoir

What is the role and future of wine writing given

What is the role and future of wine writing given this moment of global economic uncertainty?

At the extreme, the flow of wine will slow, prices will rise, wine consumption will drop, and wine consumer demographics will shift. Wine communication will shift, too.

The sudden market tectonics are eerily reminiscent of those brought about by the pandemic, so perhaps we can take some lessons from that long, painful episode. But the new chaos feels different in many ways.

I reached out to Circle members and other experts for advice. I wanted to know what wine communicators should be thinking about in the short and long term, and how we might adjust our strategies and tactics to address a changing industry.

Some themes emerged.

Read about them in my latest column:
“How Should Wine Writers Respond To A Global Trade War?”
https://www.circleofwinewriters.org/from-the-chair-responding-to-the-trade-war-as-communicators/

Link in bio

#wine #winewriting #winebusiness #spirits #drinksbusiness #tariff #tradewar #wineindustry #winecommunication

I blurbed a book that you should buy! “This isn

I blurbed a book that you should buy!

“This isn’t just another farm-to-table cookbook; it’s an authentic taste of Vermont terroir. Jenna and Nora are homegrown Vermonters and expert guides through the wheel of the year, from spring’s first greens through winter’s hearty harvests. Lavishly illustrated with easy-to-follow recipes, the book is a joyous celebration of Vermont’s culinary landscape.”
— Meg Maker, food and wine writer and founder, Terroir Review

The book’s now available for pre-order. Learn more at @vermontfarmtotable 💚

#vermont #farmtotable #locavore #homegrown #growyourown #cooking #terroir #vermontlife

In the mid 20th century, Italy’s system of share

In the mid 20th century, Italy’s system of sharecropping (mezzadria) succumbed to social and political pressures. This drove agricultural workers from the countryside into northern factories in Milan, Torino, and Genoa, or to nearby cities of Florence, Siena, Pisa, and Livorno. Vineyards were necessarily mechanized, and for many producers the focus was on quantity over quality. The wines were dull, but at least they were cheap.

Toward the end of the century, producers and their consortiums grew eager to re-establish Chianti as a fine wine. They introduced new regulations and encouraged modernizations in the vineyard and cellar. Many abandoned aging in large casks, or botti, in favor of small barriques that would make the wine appeal to international palates. In the blend, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah began to squeeze out natives Colorino and Canaiolo. These gestures scrubbed away Sangiovese’s earthy, savory signature, replacing it with a fully modern sensibility: ripe, plush, kissed with oak. The wines were dull, but at least they were expensive.

Read more in “The Wine Comes First”:
https://terroirreview.com/2025/04/23/the-wine-comes-first/

Or link in bio #wine #winewriting #vino #vinoitaliano #italianwine #chianticlassico #sangiovese #tuscany #toscana #memoir

“I was silent as the car slipped through the nar

“I was silent as the car slipped through the narrow streets of Florence. I’d lived here, long ago, as a junior in college studying Florentine Renaissance art. Florence was an enchantment then, but I’d not been back in thirty years, and it was now an ambering memory. Here it was in full color. I wanted to cry Stop the car! To get out and wander, to see if I could still recognize the city and myself within it.”

Read more in “The Wine Comes First”: https://terroirreview.com/2025/04/23/the-wine-comes-first/ or link in bio

#wine #winewriting #vino #vinoitaliano #italianwine #chianticlassico #tuscany #toscana #wineandfood #memoir #florence

Wine has been grown on this Tuscan hilltop for cen

Wine has been grown on this Tuscan hilltop for centuries. Not the same wine.

This is now the wine territory called Chianti Classico, but named regions are a relatively modern idea, designed to codify the grapevines, yields, blending and aging protocols, and other minutiae that go into making a bottle of wine.

In the old days, people made wine with whatever vines they had. Around here, in 1000 B.C.E., the vine was Vitis vinifera sylvestris and the people were the Etruscans, who harvested grapes from wild vines twining up trees, stomping them in stone troughs and aging the wine in clay.

Today’s Chianti Classico wines are postmodern. Producers use a mix of contemporary and historic practices. Because wine is a system in motion. Food, too.

Read more in my latest longform essay, “The Wine Comes First”: https://terroirreview.com/2025/04/23/the-wine-comes-first-and-always/ or link in bio

#wine #winewriting #vino #vinoitaliano #italianwine #chianticlassico #tuscany #toscana #wineandfood #modernism #postmodernism

✍🏼 Happy to learn I’ve been longlisted agai

✍🏼 Happy to learn I’ve been longlisted again in both writing categories in the @67pall_mall Global Wine Communicator Awards.

🏆 Shortlists will be announced in July and winners in September.

🥂 Many thanks to the judges and organizers for this honor.

#writing #winewriting #longform #shortform

Jaam Moynihan: “Bobby and I had this vision of w

Jaam Moynihan: “Bobby and I had this vision of what our facility could be, and the sense that we can work in a truly native-everything way, and do it well. All it would take is a ton of hard work and attention.”

Bobby Huff: “Who needs more Chard and Pinot in Sonoma County, you know? Speaking for myself, I love Chard and Pinot, but I don’t necessarily love the $40 and $60 price point, and the same exact style from every place. It tastes like over-ripe maraschino cherries and François Frères oak. So for us, working with known varieties, it’s like, How do we set ourselves apart? How do we do something differently? It’s making approachable wines. Let’s just try to make wines at a lower price point that we would want to buy, to pair with food.”

Jaam Moynihan: “The biggest thing is looking that people actually can afford them. Both of us came from similar working-class backgrounds — totally different sides of the country, and totally different experiences — but we want to make wine that our family can drink.

“We don’t claim to do anything special, but in simplicity, in not overcomplicating, there can be magic. We’re trying to do as little as possible while paying as much attention as possible, and learning not only from our contemporaries but also from history. People have been doing this for thousands of years, and it’s not that complicated: Smush grapes and wait, right? The real focus for us is making sure everything tastes good, and backing it up with science.”

Read more in “Two Men and A Village: The Launch of Joseph-Jibril” https://terroirreview.com/2023/02/11/two-men-and-a-village-the-launch-of-joseph-jibril/ or link in bio

#wine #winemaking #viticulture #enology #organic #sustainable #regenerativeorganic #naturalwine #lowintervention #sonoma #sonomawine #sonomacounty #california #californiawine #garagiste

Meg Maker: What do you say when someone asks, “W

Meg Maker: What do you say when someone asks, “What do you do?”

Deirdre Heekin: I say I am a farmer. I am a wine and cider maker. I am a writer. I am a photographer.

MM: And after they scrape their jaw off the floor —?

DH: Or I try to be those things! It’s like a practice.

MM: How would you describe the taste of your ciders?

DH: I would describe them as “vinous.” You do get apple, but you get all of these tertiary flavors, a lot of salinity, floral aspects. It’s got a lot of texture and a richness. It has some volatile acidity, so it’s got these very high notes, but then there’s also a kind of deep earthiness. There’s a fair amount of minerality, which I think is unusual in younger ciders.

I feel like we’re starting to get more of a sense of this place, the things we’ve planted beneath the trees. In cider — like wine — as it ages, other elements are revealed.

MM: What is it about making Vermont cider that inspires you?’

DH: There’s a tradition of cider here in Vermont. It was something I wanted to do myself and educate people about, bring to the fore.

But I also believe grapes are strongly about Vermont. When I started, people said, “You should be making cider. You’re trying to force something.” The fact of the matter is that grapes are actually indigenous to Vermont and apples are not.

Both are completely legitimate. Apples are part of our history here. They’re part of our terroir. They’re part of our story. So it is something that I believe strongly is about Vermont.

Read more in “Cider, or Wine? Both, Says Deidre Heekin. Also: Same Thing.” Link in bio or https://terroirreview.com/2020/08/11/deidre-heekin-la-garagista-vermont-cider-as-wine/

#winemaker #cidermaker #cider #pickcider #vermont #vermontwine #vermontterroir #terroir #apple #grape #winemaking #cidermaking #cofermentation #naturalwine #naturalwines #naturalcider

Open house. Checking out the inventory. Fingers cr

Open house. Checking out the inventory. Fingers crossed we have a buyer.

#bluebird #bluebirds #bluebirdbox #nesting #signsofspring

Well-apparel’d April on the heel Of limping Wint

Well-apparel’d April on the heel
Of limping Winter treads.

“The wines of Etna have characteristics of genti

“The wines of Etna have characteristics of gentility. They are not very thick in color, they are not very powerful in body. They have characteristics of wine that can be described as ‘fine.’

“A big wine is easy to make, a fine wine is difficult to make. The nature of fine wine is discretion. Fine wine doesn’t have to flex its muscles. Doesn’t need to. Fine wine has no need to raise its voice to make a point. It doesn’t need to. It just happens to express its point with discretion.

“The winemaker’s hand has to be as invisible as possible. It just has to draw the baby out, as a midwife; just has to draw the character of the vineyard out. This is very important on Etna because of the extraordinary diversity of the vineyards.

“So if the winemaker’s as fine as the wine he’s trying to make, he will try to keep his hand down and let the vineyard express itself.”

— Marco de Grazia, Tenuta delle Terre Nere

Read more in “Listening Recklessly to Marco de Grazia” — https://terroirreview.com/2024/02/05/listening-recklessly-to-marco-de-grazia/ or link in bio.

#wine #vino #winewriting #etna #mtetna #etnawines #winemaking #winemaker #winegrowing #volcanicwine

Load More Follow on Instagram

Follow Meg Maker on Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, Facebook, and LinkedIn.