Wine-making sim Terroir looks delightful

Grapes of wrath

Confession: I spent a solid 10 minutes researching terms that wine enthusiasts and sommeliers use to describe alcoholic grape juice. I don’t drink wine unless it comes in a cardboard box and up until today, I thought everything Paul Giamatti said in Sideways was made up. But no, turns out that words like “herbaceous,” “lifted,” and “heady” aren’t just for high school stoners; wine folk use them too.

Despite the fact that all of my wine purchases include a slappable bag, I’m keen to check out Terroir. It’s a sleek-looking management sim about owning and running a wine estate. 

In Terroir, players have the chance to guide a winery through 100-plus years, growing from a single vineyard to a massive chateau. There are a bunch of different grapes — like Pinot Noir and Merlot — to plant and care for, as well as multiple winemaking processes to undertake along the game’s hex-based map. Throw in some dynamic weather effects and random events, and it sounds like players are in for a robust little game. 

Terroir is leaving Early Access and releasing in full tomorrow. Hopefully, it has aged nicely over the last year because I could use a gaming palate cleanser.