At Terroir Natural Wine Merchant, natural wines are the (only) order of the day

By Wayne Garcia

You know a place has a touch of sass when, after the first sip of a wine you’ve probably never heard of, you glance up to see a campaign poster featuring a photo of French President Nicolas Sarkozy with the words “Votez Le Pen” pinned to the wall with a knife. It is this very sense of screw-the-establishment humor, combined with a strong sense of purpose, that makes Terroir one of San Francisco’s most intriguing, even fun places to buy and taste wine. And it’s meant as a compliment to say that Terroir is one of those spots that will either immediately resonate with you, or not at all. Like I said, it’s got attitude. Not in a snobbish way, just a passionate belief that the world’s finest wines are not only free of pesticides and added sulfur, but are made with as little human intervention as possible.

Located on Folsom Street, just east of City Beer Store and the BrainWash Café, Terroir opened in October 2007 as a combination retail store and wine bar. Suggesting New York or Paris more than San Francisco, the sparse yet inviting interior is lined with exposed brick walls and forested with huge vertical support beams. Periphery-hugging shelves and freestanding racks display a selection of more than 450 wines from around the world, and a small tasting bar is situated along the middle left, with the day’s selections scrawled on a large and frequently erased chalkboard. Stairs on the right ascend to a loft with a couch, tables, and a few cushy chairs.

The brainchild of two rail-thin and perpetually scruffy Frenchmen, Guilhaume Gerard and Luc Ertoran, and their American partner, Dagan Minestro, Terroir was inspired by the wine bars of Paris, where a big zero-sulfur movement has taken hold. But as important as the idea of natural wines is to Terroir’s raison d’être, the wine list is driven first and foremost by quality and taste.

“Look, we believe completely in these practices, and absolutely in using no sulfur, but that alone doesn’t make a good wine. A lot of zero-sulfur wines are crap,” says Ertoran.

Beyond organic

But what exactly does zero-sulfur mean? Sulfur dioxide is a natural byproduct of the fermentation process, meaning no wine is entirely sulfite free. And to prevent spoilage, winemakers for the past few hundred years have added small amounts of sulfur dioxide to their wines. The USDA allows up to 350 parts per million, though that standard drops to zero for wines that are certified organic, and to 100 ppm for wines that are “made with organic grapes.”

Terroir prefers the word “natural” to the more common “organic” and “biodynamic.” Explains Ertoran, “You can’t suddenly switch to organic farming and expect the same result as guys who have been doing it for six generations. To make exceptional wine, you must respect your land as well as your customers. But using organic grapes is not enough. What about the additions of sulfur and enzymes? If you add three chemicals to a wine it becomes a cocktail. And we don’t have a license to sell cocktails.”

When asked if that means all of Terroir’s wines are free of added sulfites, Gerard responds, “We certainly have the largest list of wines in the States with no added sulfur, but not all our wines are sulfur free. When they are not, we allow for only very small amounts”—10 to 35 milligrams per liter.

Striving for poetry

“We try to give exposure to wines people have never had before,” says Gerard. “Everybody’s selling a Napa Cab or Sonoma Chardonnay. We’re trying to do something different.” To that end, Terroir admittedly offers “some weird stuff,” such as an oxidized but delicious Arbois from France’s Jura region. “We take risks because we’re wine geeks, not businessmen,” he jokes. In another perhaps risk-taking move, Terroir, unlike the majority of wine outlets, shuns the numbers game, and never uses scorecards from publications as sales tools. “It would be like putting numbers on people,” Gerard laughs. “‘Oh, by the way, I met your friend today—he was an 82.’ What exactly does that mean?”

This kind of personal touch and outspoken honesty are what makes a visit to Terroir, or Biondivino on Green Street (see Edible San Francisco’s Winter 2008 issue), Kermit Lynch in Berkeley, or any other neighborhood wine shop so much more rewarding, informative, perhaps even palate-changing than shopping online or at some large and impersonal discounter or grocery store.

As Ertoran puts it, “What makes me happy is a customer who comes in saying he likes Zinfandel. We pour him a Beaujolais-Villages, and he goes crazy for the wine. Of course, he likes it: it’s got zero added sulfur, no enzymes, and tastes real, not factory made. We believe 100% in every wine we sell. Some of these wines have flaws, but that’s what makes them what they are. We’re not striving for perfection like UC Davis is—we’re striving for poetry, for a wine that has a story to tell.”

Tasting notes from the terroirists.

Terroir’s three proprietors— Dagan Minestro, Guilhaume Gerard, and Luc Ertoran—choose six of their favorite wines and provide notes.

2006 Coenobium Vino di Tavola di Lazio ($23)
Winemaker Giampero Bea is making this brilliant white in conjunction with an Umbrian monastery. A blend of Verdicchio, Grechetto, Trebbiano, and Malvasia, the wine is vinified using no temperature control and very little élevage [maturing before bottling]. This vintage has bright yet subtle acidity, with a very clean initial push on the palate, and beautiful floral characteristics as it opens, often reaching its peak the day after opening. A testament to natural winemaking, as well as an example of what intact biology can produce in an ancient, undisturbed location. —D.M.

2002 Triacca, Valltelina Superiore ($36)
Nebbiolo from northern italy, grown at a 2,600-foot elevation along the Swiss border. This has to be my favorite wine from a “bad year,” one that delivered erratic weather throughout most of Italy, with extensive rain, hail, and sleet followed by a very warm summer. But those above the snow line saw a different year altogether. here the Nebbiolo ripened beautifully, with great acidity and a solid, sustaining tannic structure. This varietal speaks to me with a pinot-like acidity, but it also has the capacity to develop into a bigger wine, depending on ripeness and region. if you love Pinot Noir, it’s time for you to meet its italian cousin, Nebbiolo. —D.M.

2004 Jacques Puffeney, Arbois “Poulsard” ($26.50)
Jacques Puffeney, son of a vineyard worker, started making wine at just 17 years old. Considered the “pope” of Arbois, a small appellation close to the Swiss border in France, his “Poulsard” is one of my favorite reds—light, lean, and amazingly minerally, with beautiful notes of red fruits and perfect acidity. This, along with some Beaujolais we carry, is the perfect summer wine. What I would be drinking on a sunny sunday in Dolores Park…if I had a sunday off! —G.G.

2006 Catherine et Pierre Breton, Bourgueil “La Dilettante” ($22.50)
Catherine and Pierre Breton are making some of the most exciting Cabernet Franc in the Loire these days, working their vineyards biodynamically, and not adding any sulfur during either vinification or bottling. “La Dilettante” is Catherine’s wine. She uses carbonic maceration on whole clusters to start the fermentation, and releases the wine relatively early to be drunk “on the fruit.” Light (for a Cab Franc), fruity, with a great sense of terroir, this wine is to be served at cellar temperature and enjoyed on a sunny day with a BBQ or some charcuterie. —G.G.

2002 Radikon “Oslavje,” Friuli ($52)
One of those “weird wines” that we love so much at Terroir. Long maceration on the skins, no temperature control, no sulfur—the wine is made in the vineyard, not in a lab. “Oslavje” is a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Gris. it’s an orange-colored, tannic white wine, with loads of spices, white flowers, and apples on the nose: a perfect match for aged cheese or any rich, hearty traditional Friulian dish such as a creamy chicken with potatoes. —L.E.

2006 Jean Foillard, Morgon “Côte du Py” ($29)
The vineyard is located in Villie-Morgon (Beaujolais). Jean started in the early ’80s as an employee, eventually renting and then buying this vineyard. I like all the wines at the shop, but Foillard’s “Côte du Py” delights me with its capacity to match any situation: meat, fish, lunch, brunch, dinner, breakfast. It is a light, refreshing wine with red fruit accents and low tannins but still showing a great structure and aging capability. This wine would turn any Zinfandel drinker—well, almost any— into a Beaujolais fanatic. —L.E.

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