Terroir Visualizer — Soil, Climate & Taste per Sub-region

Terroir refers to all natural factors shaping a wine: soil, climate, topography, microclimate — and human stewardship. A Riesling from Mosel slate tastes fundamentally different from a Riesling on Pfalz sandstone, even though both come from the same variety.

The problem: terroir descriptions are often abstract ("mineral", "spicy", "smoky"). The Cellarmap Terroir Visualizer makes the connection visible — from geology to taste in the glass.

How does the visualizer work?

Fingerprint radar

Six axes, 0–10: warmth, sun, dryness, minerality, body, freshness — drawn as a radar so the shape of a terroir reads at a glance.

Compare mode

Two terroirs overlaid — one sentence per axis on what the difference means in the glass.

Soils

The defining soil types, colour-coded, with a plain-language explanation.

Climate & topography

Climate type, slope profile and a concrete description of the landscape.

What it means in the glass

The most important section: taste descriptors that follow from soil and climate.

Similar terroirs & estates

Computationally similar terroirs worldwide and the estates working on exactly this ground.

Methodology

Fingerprint scale (0–10): Each value is calibrated relative to all sub-regions in our atlas. A value of 10 for "warmth" means the warmest point in our atlas (Swan Valley); 4 is one of the coolest (Saar).

Climate classification: 5 types (warm-dry-sunny · cool-continental · maritime · Mediterranean · alpine) — based on sunshine hours, rainfall, diurnal variation and ocean/continent proximity.

Soil types (13 categories): Sandstone · Limestone · Muschelkalk · Loess · Loam · Basalt · Gravel/Sand · Slate · Volcanic · Granite · Rotliegendes · Marl · Keuper marl. Each type has a characteristic color and a plain-language impact explanation.

Taste translation: Per sub-region 4–7 taste descriptors describing the typical style — derived from tasting notes, professional literature and dominant producer style.

Important: Values are a curated generalization. Within a sub-region there are vineyard-level differences the fingerprint doesn't capture. The visualizer is orientation, not site-specific guidance.

Data sources

•VDP (German Prädikat Wine Estates) — vineyard classifications, soil characteristics
•Deutsches Weininstitut (DWI) — official climate and growing statistics
•BIVB (Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne) — Burgundy climats classification
•CIVA — Alsace Grand Cru sites
•LWK Rhineland-Palatinate — vineyard register with soil geology
•BGR (Federal Institute for Geosciences) — geological maps
•Wine Australia — Geographical Indications and climate atlas
•Halliday Wine Companion — Western Australia region profiles
•Professional literature: Joel Payne (Hugh Johnson Pocket Atlas), Stuart Pigott, Eichelmann, Falstaff
•Tasting notes from leading critics (Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator, James Suckling, Decanter)
•Direct producer profiles from the Cellarmap atlas (stylistics, vineyard lists)

→ Glossary: what is terroir?→ Aroma wheel & varieties → Classifications → Renomée Score

FROM SOIL TO glass.

Explore every terroir

All 166 Terroirs

What is terroir?