What the hell does Terroir really mean?

[hotwine]

Terroir is the natural environment in which grapes are grown..... soil conditions, exposure to the sun and prevailing winds during the growing season, influence of coastal breezes, lattitude... all of that sort of thing falls under the general heading of terroir. Sometimes broken down into microclimates.... Sonoma has a different microclimate from Napa, and both are vastly different from West Texas. You can put your finger on a point on a globe and move it directly east or west along a single line of lattitude, but terroir will be different for each point along that line.