The question remains as to how far the French concept of terroir, with its primary emphasis on soil, is relevant to other regions and viticultural systems. An overriding influence of soil and its water relations can be easily enough understood in the Bordeaux environment, with its relatively flat topography and, as a consequence, few really major differences in mesoclimate. The situation is clearly different in areas such as Germanyâs mosel region at the cold limit of commercial viticulture. The topographic differences between individual sites decide whether grapes, particularly the high-quality varieties such as riesling, will ripen fully at all. Topography and mesoclimate are inescapably major components of terroir (or its German equivalent).
