Microbial Terroir: A Sense of Place for Microbes in the Vineyard

All of the attributes of a vineyard that make a wine unique comprise terroir, which is sometimes referred to as the sense of place in a wine. Recently, the scientific community has recognized that one attribute of a vineyard that can significantly influence the resulting wine is the microbes that live there. The bacteria and fungi that live on and around wine grapes make up the microbial terroir of the vineyard. Dr. Jeremy Weisz (associate professor of biology at Linfield University) discusses how these bacteria and fungi influence the composition of their microbial communities. He shares the results of several years of research on microbial terroir in the Willamette Valley, examining how geography and viticulture combine to give a vineyard a unique sense of place.