Regionality

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

  • About

New World term for the concept, now fully accepted there, that the location of a vineyard plays an important part in shaping the character of the wine produced from it. It is less geographically precise and, importantly, less French, than the term terroir (although as the century wears on, this last term is increasingly used by New World wine producers).

More and more wines in, for example, California and Australia, where the word was coined, are labelled and marketed on a geographical as well as varietal basis, although many producers are wary of the restrictions that would ensue from controlled appellations.