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Is all this talk of wine terroir a load of hooey?

Is all this talk of wine terroir a load of hooey?

The academic spoilsports say it is – but then they haven’t tasted these outstanding new wines, says our drinks writer.

Xavier Goodridge in his vineyard. 

Gee, academics can be party poopers, sometimes, can’t they?

Taste the Limestone, Smell the Slate: a geologist wanders through the world of wine, is a new book by Alex Maltman, emeritus professor of earth sciences at Aberystwyth University on the Welsh coast. In it, the author spends much of the book’s 300 pages gleefully skewering accepted wisdom about the influence of rocks and soils on the taste of wine – and getting stuck into wine journalists for perpetuating myths and misinformation with metaphors about minerality.

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Max Allen
Max AllenDrinks columnistMax Allen is The Australian Financial Review's drinks columnist. He is an award-winning journalist and author who has written about wine and drinks for close to 25 years. Connect with Max on Twitter. Email Max at max@maxallen.com.au

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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/food-and-wine/is-all-this-talk-of-wine-terroir-a-load-of-hooey-20250715-p5mf60