{"id":3482,"date":"2011-11-28T12:55:45","date_gmt":"2011-11-28T18:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/?p=3482"},"modified":"2011-11-28T12:55:45","modified_gmt":"2011-11-28T18:55:45","slug":"monday-motivation-writing-terroir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/2011\/11\/28\/monday-motivation-writing-terroir\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Motivation: Writing Terroir"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"Grapes on the vine.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/images\/grapes.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"275\" height=\"392\" \/>Burgundy wines taste like the region: deliberate and heady and herbal.<\/p>\n<p>Piedmont wines are as crisp as the region. You can taste the craft of California wines and know how lush Oregon and Washington are in each sip without ever visiting. Taking in a mouthful of Riesling is like bobbing for stones in a cool river. And yep, you&#8217;re tasting steep mountains in South American wines.<\/p>\n<p>Drinking an Islay scotch, you taste the sea spray of Scotland&#8217;s western islands. Peat lingers on the palate like cigar smoke. It&#8217;s a drink as wild and as strong as the region.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 475px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Ardbeg Distillery\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/images\/ardbeg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"317\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Ardbeg Distillery (www.flickr.com\/photos\/fijian_scion)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The hills and hollers of Kentucky resonate in bourbon &#8212; clear springs, grains, limestone, and oak tucked away and ready on its own terms.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 475px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Maker's Mark distillery.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/images\/makersmark.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"318\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maker&#39;s Mark Distillery (www.flickr.com\/photos\/joeshlabotnik)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Just after the anise in absinthe presents itself, in walks wormwood, reminding you of fields of hay and dust on the back of your throat.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 475px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Absinthe Eduoard.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/images\/absinthe.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"404\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Absinthe Eduoard, enjoyed with my wife on a nice afternoon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>You really <em>can <\/em>taste the yeasts and pollens in the air when you sip a Belgian ale. (Okay, so brewing environments are more controlled, now, but you get the idea&#8230;)<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 475px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Abbaye d'Orval\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/images\/abbey.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"278\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Abbaye d&#39;Orval (www.flickr.com\/photos\/inessaraiva)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The brightness of Cascadian hops from America&#8217;s Pacific Northwest; the rich malts of the United Kingdom&#8230;all these things experienced in a heavy pint glass after work make the day&#8217;s toil worth the effort.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 475px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hops.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/images\/hops.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"317\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hops (www.flickr.com\/photos\/nikonvscanon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The earthy aroma of coffee begins the day, reminding us of the very dirt whence we came.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 475px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ethiopian coffee beans.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/images\/coffeebeans.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"356\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ethiopian coffee beans (www.flickr.com\/photos\/terriosullivan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Take your time with tea and you will know fewer greater pleasures in life.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 475px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tea plants.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/images\/teaplants.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"356\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tea plants (www.flickr.com\/photos\/martijn02)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Terroir<\/strong>&#8230;you know it, or you don&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<p>It can be defined as the combination of factors, including soil, climate, and environment, that gives wine its distinct characteristics, but it&#8217;s so much more than that.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a taste of a region and its history; a connection transcending the taste in your mouth.<\/p>\n<p>Like terroir, the best writing defies description &#8212; to truly know it, one must experience it and take it in on a higher level.<\/p>\n<p>So I ask you&#8230;what does <em>your <\/em>writing taste like?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Burgundy wines taste like the region: deliberate and heady and herbal. Piedmont wines are as crisp as the region. You can taste the craft of California wines and know how lush Oregon and Washington are in each sip without ever visiting. Taking in a mouthful of Riesling is like bobbing for stones in a cool [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[23,29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3482"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}