Terroir in the Creation of Wine & Chocolate

So let’s compare the ‘ingredients’ and processes that result in your favourite wine and beloved chocolate. To do so, we have identified four major elements along the production chain that we feel best exemplify these similarities:

The Baseline : Environmental Factors aka the Terroir

Wine: Grapes only thrive under a very specific balance of soil, climate, elevation and exposure to the sun -collectively called terroir.
Chocolate: Cacao beans are grown within 20 degrees of the equator. The cacao tree is a real rainforest inhabitant. It needs fairly uniform temperatures, high humidity and a lot of precipitation. In addition, it requires a nitrogen-rich soil and prefers to grow under other, taller trees.

The Core : Ingredients aka the Genetics

Wine: The horticultural species that produces the finest wine grapes is ‘Vitis Vinifera’. From this species, hybrids have been developed that thrive in specific regions. All of the most familiar grape varieties used for wine production belong to ‘Vitis Vinifera’.
Chocolate: The species for making chocolate is ‘Theobroma Cacao L’. Molecular analysis of the genetic material differentiated cacao into 10 major ‘genetic clusters’, like Amelonado, Contamana, Criollo, Curaray, Guiana, Iquitos, Marañón, Nanay, Nacional and  Purús, and more groups are being identified. In addition a wide range of cultivars and hybrids are grown. The genotypes are not to be confused with ‘phenotyping’ refering to the colour and shape of the cacao pods.

The Process** : Transformation aka the Magic

Wine: To create a fine wine, grapes must be harvested at a precise time each year. Once grapes arrive at a winery, they are sorted into bunches, destemmed, and crushed. Harvested grapes are fermented for various periods of time using selected yeast forms and then processed in a winery to achieve the desired aroma, flavour and alcohol profile.
Chocolate: Just like winemaking, the harvest and post-harvest processes are critical steps that distinguish one cacao from another. It consists of 4 steps: harvesting cacao pods >> fermentation >> drying  beans >> storage dried beans. These steps, in the hands of a post-harvest maestro -the second link in the chain- provide us the basis and flavour precursors that chocolatiers are looking for. Fermentation is a natural or spontaneous process, no cultures of yeast or bacteria are added.

The Final Touch** aka Mastery

Wine: Decisions made by the winemaker after fermentation is complete, can add further aroma complexity to a wine. For example, wines that undergo a process called ‘malolactic conversion’ may have buttery aromas, while wines that are aged in new oak barrels may take on aromas of vanilla from the oak. Fermented wines can be aged and/or blended by a winemaker to craft a unique statement of his or her creativity.

Chocolate: A chocolate maker* -a bean-to-bar company that produces chocolate by processing cacao beans into a product inhouse & the third link in the process- roasts the raw beans. Roasting cacao beans is crucial in developing their flavour. The beans are cracked, and then the shells are winnowed from the nibs using jets of air. Afterwards the cacao nibs are ground using a machine known as a mélangeur grinder into a paste known as cacao liquor. Extra ingredients such as sugar and milk powder are added during this stage. Next the chocolate will be tempered. This is the process of raising and lowering the temperature of the chocolate to alter the crystals within. Tempered chocolate is shiny, firm and has that recognisable snap. The final stage is that the tempered chocolate is poured into molds to make bars of chocolate that can then be wrapped.

BEYOND Terroir Magic – When Micro-Organisms Meet Post Harvest Maestros

• One of the particularly cool things about cacao is the huge influence post harvest fermentation has on the flavour.
• Flavour begins with the genetics of cacao and its precursors are ‘translated’ during the post-harvesting processes into distinguishable characteristics.
• Cacao is spontaneous fermentation; farmers rely on natural microbes in the environment to create unique, local flavours. In the same way that grapes take on regional terroir, these wild microbes, combined with each farmer’s particular process, confer terroir on beans fermented in each location.
• This is the power of post-harvest: to change, convert, transform. It takes the usual and makes it unusual – thanks to the magic of microbes and the skills of the post harvesting maestro.
• Since fermentation must be done on or near the farm it is the skill of these immediate post-harvest processes and maestros that have such a big influence on flavour. This is all the more reason for chocolate makers and chocolate lovers to communicate with, respect, and learn with cacao farmers.

BEYOND Terroir Magic – When Terroir Meets Micro-Climate

• Local conditions must always be taken into account. Depending on remoteness, rainfall, humidity and genetic makeup, certain processes may need to be modified.
  For example, while natural drying in the sun may be preferable on certain islands where the humidity is very high, drying on covered beds and finishing up with artificial drying may be preferable where there is a high risk of mould formation due to excessive humidity.

BEYOND Terroir Mystery – Possible ‘between Tree & Mouth’ Gap

• There is a physical and figurative gap ‘between tree and mouth’ that hinders the expression of terroir in chocolate.
• As cacao travels thousands of miles from tropical growing regions to factories in Europe and North America -and the general practice is to blend different sources-, it becomes increasingly difficult to trace the origins of cacao in the final chocolate product.
• The place of manufacture often takes over the place of origin of the beans. A closer proximity between cultivation and production, in addition to fewer transfers of ownership and an identity preserved mindset would begin to narrow this gap.
• With more control over the entire cacao-to-chocolate chain, terroir -or chocolate’s “sense of place”- can be better preserved.

• For the French, terroir is almost spiritual. But on a more down-to-earth level, the traditional concept of terroir can also have real meaning for us. Like grapes, cacao pods are finicky fruits. In some places they grow well, in others badly. One likes cool, misty weather, the other preferes smothered sunlight.
• Cultural pseudo traditional terroir may be less regionally distinct than it once was, but terroir proper inevitably persists. We are only forced to accept that its influence is more limited than we previously thought.
• By looking beyond the traditional concept of terroir, we can better appreciate the extraordinary relationship that our beloved ‘theobroma’ builds between its constant, unyielding nature and those mercurial, rebellious creatures that try to capture it in a piece of chocolate.
• Terroir can provide clear points of differentiation in chocolate marketing – particularly by providing symbolic meaning around authenticity and a sense of ‘real place’, valuing or honouring the identity of the beans.
  However, as also noted, the concept is shrouded in ambiguity; it is clear that different audiences may have different interpretations of the term, and when it is overlaid with ideas about culture, identity and naming, the whole concept becomes even more complicated.
• In this article we have tried to make sense of these interacting aspects of terroir, and while hardly all the ambiguities have been resolved, we hope to have provided some framework; a realistic picture where the competing environmental, metaphysical and marketing interpretations merge around the feeling of terroir as identity.
• So while details of terroir are undoubtedly a factor, they are all too often misused as a marketing term. This isn’t to say that chocolate isn’t terroir worthy, but instead and rather that it’s too complex for it…
• So while details of terroir are undoubtedly a factor, they are all too often misused as a marketing term. This isn’t to say that chocolate isn’t terroir worthy, but instead and rather that it’s too complex for it.

• Investigating ‘terroir’ in chocolate is investigating the ‘origin and identity’ of a chocolate bar. Regardless of single variety, single farm, single origin or multiple origins, labeling the beginning of a chocolate bar invites curiosity about its origin and what sets it apart. This paves the way for more socially responsible chocolate. For example, an excellent chocolate bar with origins from lesser-known chocolate-producing regions, such as Thailand Chanthaburi, could be a positive representation.
• As consumers become more interested in where their chocolate comes from, chocolate makers have an incentive to get closer to the ‘sense of place’. Combined with further research into different bean varieties and place distinctions, there is much to look forward to for the future of ‘terroir’ in chocolate.
• To this day there is very little publicly available info or research on the importance or influence of terroir, with the potential danger of simplifying meaning.
• Whether you want to believe in terroir or not, it’s totally up to you. But as a chocolate consumer, don’t ever let it be a decisive part in your purchasing process, and don’t let anybody convince you that you should like a specific chocolate because of ‘terroir’, especially when your palate says otherwise and when you have no idea what’s actually happening at the origin and source.