I understand why that would seem... goofy, but to give a concrete example that we all know and love... The Vidalia Onion!
If you plant them in Vidalia (or anywhere with sandy soil and low sulfur content) you get lovely, sweet, onions. Plant them anywhere else, and they're just as piquant as any other white variety. That's a really big example of "Terroir", without the mystical crap attatched. Grapes as I understand it, in relation to their water/sugar/acid content, vary greatly with relatively minor changes in climate.
At least in part, this is why climate change is likely to do quite the number on French wines, possibly forever, definitely for a very long time.
I was talking to a winemaker friend of mine about such things and he confirmed the ideal weather for particular grapes was shifting north and recommended growing grapes in Colorado.
If you plant them in Vidalia (or anywhere with sandy soil and low sulfur content) you get lovely, sweet, onions. Plant them anywhere else, and they're just as piquant as any other white variety. That's a really big example of "Terroir", without the mystical crap attatched. Grapes as I understand it, in relation to their water/sugar/acid content, vary greatly with relatively minor changes in climate.
At least in part, this is why climate change is likely to do quite the number on French wines, possibly forever, definitely for a very long time.