What is terroir

In a nutshell, terroir is the phenomenon when climate, soil, grape variety, rootstock and cultural practices converge in harmony, the vine exudes the full phenotype and the extraordinary wines resulting from such sense of place are an expression of terroir.

The Quatro Terras four hectares property is composed of four contiguous plots of land with a heat summation of ~2000 degree-days ‘C’ emulating Bordeaux and Napa Valley climates.

The land is divided in the middle by an east-west seasonal creek, separating two facing slopes along a chestnut grove with a narrow meadow strip on the north side of the creek forming a land saddle.

The north half of the property includes a 20% south slope, consisting of gravelly red calcareous soil with ~15% weathering Schist and blue clay layers in the C horizon varying from 150 to 250cm in depth.

The antibacterial blue clay, dating back to the Triassic period (Over 200 million years ago), contains chemically reduced Fe2+ iron, as opposed to the oxidizing Fe3 form, which provides the familiar red color associated with soil. - Additionally, the doughy blue clay can accumulate concentrations of different minerals deposited from the upper soil, that would otherwise, permeate below the root zone and be lost by gravity.

The south half includes two 10% Northwest sloping parcels, separated by a chestnut grove. - The soils are acidic light beige quartzite loess, interleaved with potassium rich Illite clay layers that turn greenish charcoal when wet.

The calcareous north half is planted with Merlot and Cabernet Franc, while the acidic south parcels are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Roussanne, aiming to produce four distinct boutique wines, three reds and one white.