32 WINES&VINES March 2016
T
erroir and Other
Myths of Winegrow-
ing, the new book by
Dr. Mark A. Mat-
thews, is a must-read
for any wine grape
grower or winemaker who has ever
wrestled with the most important
myths of winegrowing or debated
them with colleagues—and that
would be all of us! It is also a great
read for any wine consumer inter-
ested in looking at "the man behind
the curtain," so to speak: the myths
promoted by wine writers, tasting
room staff, sommeliers and other
wine gatekeepers.
It took me a while to get into
the book due to the great detail
that Matthews, a longtime profes-
sor and plant physiologist at the
University of California, Davis,
entered into while tracing the his-
tory of the first significant myth
presented. But that reluctance
gave way to pure fascination as he
followed the saga with scientific
evidence to either support or dis-
prove each topic. The book is not
about trashing myths, but about
seeing if viticulture and enological
science can support them or not.
I like that Matthews focuses on
only four significant myths, rather
than a laundry list of them. They are:
1) Low yield and small berries de-
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Vineyard View
n CLIFF OHMART
Seeing Terroir Through
the Lens of Science
