Whisky, wine and terroir

Written by Anna Larkin September 3, 2026

As with many words that resist translation, ‘terroir’ has a habit of meaning very different things to different people. While its semantic vagaries are at least familiar ground in the wine world, the vigorous distillation process and pursuit of consistency in whisky-making mean the complexities of natural environment often play second fiddle to other influences such as cask maturation.

A wheat farm at dusk, with the ocean in the background, and farming vehicles

Coull Farm, Islay

Yet here, wine and whisky have always been great pals, linked through years of mingling in barriques, butts and pipes. What’s more, there are distilleries out there embracing wine-making influence beyond this and putting terroir at the centre of what they do.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, French whisky culture sits easy with this idea. At farm distillery Domaine Des Hautes Glaces in the French Alps, founder and distiller Fréd Revol celebrates the land and adopts many practices commonly associated with winemaking:

‘In the whisky industry, malt is a commodity and we are always speaking about the influence of the cask but not enough about the influence of the grain, the influence of the climate.’

A dazzling array of grains are grown here - barley, rye, spelt, einkorn and oat – and are farmed organically on a careful rotation. This care is vital and as Geraldine Le Garrec, marketing director, says:

‘Because the grain is the genesis of our flavour, we believe grain should be treated with the same reverence as grapes in winemaking.’

To support this, fermentations take place slowly and at low temperatures using indigenous yeasts, a practice still very rare in spirit making. Temperatures in fermentation vessels can traditionally rise up to 35 degrees celsius but these are kept closer to 20 degrees. Distillations are measured and intended to respect what has already happened in fermentation and in the field. As Fred says, ‘the life is in the soil.’

The interior of a distillery with large striped barrels, and machinery

Domaine Des Hautes Glaces Distillery, French Alps

Not to be outdone in defying translation, in Scotland we have the Gaelic word dùtchchas, whose complex depiction of the land and the people who descend from it carries some of the sense of terroir. The island of Islay exemplifies this notion, shaped by its coast, its native peat and the effect this has on flavour.

The exterior of the distillery, white buildings, with blue accents, under a cloudy blue sky

At Islay distillery Bruichladdich, the grain itself is key. Here, master blender Adam Hannett focuses on celebrating barley variations:

‘We taste new make from grains from different farms and different varieties, and even at that stage there are clear differences. Put them into the same casks, stored side by side, and those differences don’t vanish, they carry through, and after years in wood you still find them in the glass.’

The Bruichladdich single farm releases express this difference, where two whiskies distilled and matured in the same way show notable differences from the different barley used:

‘Islay-grown barley, for example, tends to give more viscosity and green fruit notes that evolve into peach and apricot with age. Bere barley, grown in Orkney, often shows more tropical fruit character.’

Notably, the choice to stick with a constant distiller’s yeast at Bruichladdich is a deliberate one which encourages other elements to shine and makes it easier to attribute certain flavours to the grains.

At Inchdairnie Distillery in Fife, this connection with the land is in tune with the Japanese understanding of the changing of the seasons and described by Jens Tholstrup, Head of marketing, in more deliciously untranslatable terms:

‘We work with provenance, regionality and seasonality – we do not have a precise English word that describes this specifically yet, but the Japanese word “kisetsusei” 季節性 or better yet “kisetsuteki-no ryory” 季節の料理 meaning “seasonal cooking” is more along the lines of our philosophy of recognising seasonal changes.’

The decision to ferment outdoors at Inchdairnie means these seasonal changes are crucial considerations and necessitate precision in terms of yeast choice and distillery equipment:

‘Having double condensers and additional copper contact removing more sulphury compounds, the grain is more evident in the final spirit, as are the seasonal notes like grassy for Spring, floral and fruity for Summer, malty for Autumn and heavy/robust for Winter.’

Outdoor fermentation and different grains and yeast strains chiming with the time of year means the result is something seasonal, vintage, and very much a whisky of Fife. Even if we do look to the nuances of Japanese to really capture it.

The interior of the distillery with large copper pipes

Inchdairnie Distillery, Fife

What unites these distilleries is their connection with the land but also a practice inspired by flavour.

As Geraldine puts it:

‘When you taste our spirits, the narrative of the soil, the season and the place is no longer just a concept—it is a tangible, aromatic experience that proves the profound impact on flavour of micro-provenance of the grain and the fertility of the soil where it grows.’

And whisky consumers are drawn to these evocations of place with the same curiosity. Helen Stockham of independent whisky merchants Dunkeld Whisky Box tells me:

‘There are almost as many different reasons people buy particular whiskies as there are whiskies. In our experience, many of our customers look for a whisky that connects them to a place and reminds them of a local memory or experience. They often choose based on personal associations like connection to place, rather than flavour alone. It’s the whole package that plays a part.’

While pursuit of flavour and focus on provenance can sometimes appear on opposite sides of the coin, flavour is ultimately inseparable from the land it comes from and whisky cannot be divided from this any more than wine can. Even if the language we rely on to convey this teasingly threatens to conceal as much as it reveals.

Anna Larkin DipWSET is a drinks writer and presenter based in Edinburgh. With a background in theatre, she now hosts musical comedy tasting events throughout the UK. Shortlisted this year for the IWSC Emerging Talent in Spirits Communication Award and Scottish Drinks Influencer of the Year.