What is terroir, and is it really just soil and climate? Anthropologist Marion Demossier, Professor of French and European Studies at the University of Southampton and author of Burgundy: The Global Story of Terroir, joins host Noah Tetzner to explore Burgundy's wine culture and how the idea of terroir traveled around the world.

Born in Beaune, in the heart of Burgundy's wine country, and raised in a family where her grandfather was a wine merchant, Marion has spent more than three decades studying the region's wine growers. She explains why Burgundy's famous landscape is as much a product of labor, land ownership, and law as of geology, and what she saw from inside the room when she was brought in to write an anthropological report for Burgundy's UNESCO World Heritage bid. She traces how terroir was translated in China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand, shares memories of legendary cellar tastings in Beaune and Champagne interviews that began with a glass at 10 a.m., and explains why climate change may force the wine world to rethink its traditions.

In this episode:

- What does terroir mean, and why has the word never been translated?

- Why did Burgundy become synonymous with wine?

- Is Burgundy's landscape naturally exceptional, or shaped by people and law?

- How did the idea of terroir travel to Asia and New Zealand?

- How is climate change challenging Burgundy's traditions?

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and introduction

01:38 When wine became more than a drink: a wine merchant grandfather and an anthropologist's eye

04:05 Why Burgundy? Growing up in Beaune among barrel makers and wine growers

09:25 Is Burgundy's landscape exceptional? Land, labor, appellations, and climate change

14:27 Terroir as people and tradition, and the UNESCO World Heritage bid

21:40 What is terroir?

24:25 Does terroir survive the journey to China, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand?

28:20 How old is New Zealand's wine culture?

29:42 Legendary cellar tastings and how Burgundy has changed

33:42 The first bottle she paid attention to and the rituals of tasting

37:32 What she wishes people understood about wine

39:50 How to support her work and the people who make wine

Links and resources:

Burgundy: The Global Story of Terroir (Berghahn Books): https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/DemossierBurgundy

Marion Demossier at the University of Southampton: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5x8wpn/professor-marion-demossier

Pinot Noir: Tradition, Transition and Transformation symposium, Dijon, 27–30 June 2027: https://www.thepinotnoirproject.org/events-2-1/pinot-noir-tradition-transition-and-transformation

The Pinot Noir Project: https://www.thepinotnoirproject.org/

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Connect with the host: noah@profitwithpodcasting.com