THE PLACES OF WINE

Terroir and Terruños: a bold new way to understand where wine truly comes from
For centuries, wine has been described as the pure expression of its place of origin. But what if this celebrated idea of terroir is only part of the story?
In this lucid, provocative and highly original essay, Master of Wine Pedro Ballesteros Torres challenges one of the wine world’s most deeply rooted beliefs. Drawing on science, history and decades of professional experience, he argues that wine is not a static product determined by soil, climate and tradition. It is the living result of countless interactions between vines, microorganisms, ecosystems, technology, culture and human intention.

In place of the fixed and romanticised notion of terroir, Ballesteros recovers the Spanish concept of terruño, which he redefines as a living, evolving ecosystem shaped by microorganisms, natural conditions and human purpose. From the microbiology of the soil and the intelligence of mycorrhizal networks to fermentation,ageing and the drinker’s own perception, the book follows wine
through the different ecosystems that shape its identity.
Rigorous yet accessible, intellectually ambitious and enlivened by humour and personal experience, The Places of Wine invites readers to question inherited certainties and discover every glass as the expression of a complex, changing and profoundly human world.
Ballesteros proposes an idea as simple as it is revolutionary: the land does not make wine—people do.