What is terroir?  This is a question that has intrigued many wine lovers(and haters). began many heated arguments, and frustrates most attempts at definition.  

The French have claimed that if you irrigate your vineyard, you have no Terroir - that to have true Terroir, the wine must take as much from the natural environment/climate as it does from the soil.  So many vineyards responded by irrigating their vines and not capitalzing the "t" in Terroir.  Thus, an uneasy detente was reached between Old World and New World.  Still the answer to the question elludes us, "what is terroir?"

Here at Saba, we believe terroir represents a 'sense of place' - but the French have a point that soil alone does not make a wine great.  We set out to learn about this special part of Texas between the San Saba and Llano rivers.  What we learned was that this patch of rocky, hot, and inhospitable land shaped the history of the entire American continent.  Saba's wines do more than bring together fruit, fermentation, aging and oak, they tell a story of faith, duty, passion, and sacrifice. 

Our terroir are the lands where Spanish missionaries took a leap of faith.   Where brave soldiers died defended those priests.   It's where indigenous peoples fought to preserve their way of life.  Our 'sense of place' is violent, passionate, hopeful, and complex. 

I can't think of a better place to make wine.

-S. Monette