Terroir is a French term with roots in the Latin term terra meaning ground or land. In the international wine jargon, the term has assumed a more specific and nuanced meaning: it is the result of "collective knowledge of the interactions" between the environment and the vines mediated through human action and "providing distinctive characteristics" to the final product (i.e., wine; OIV, 2010). Terroir is not just a geographical site, but includes: (i) the physical environment (e.g., climate, geology, soil, and topography); (ii) the biological material and production practices; (iii) cultural, socio-economical and political aspects. Nowadays, the storytelling of terroir is abundant in both the popular press and marketing of wine. Although there is no reference to wine quality in the description of the terroir concept (OIV, 2010), wines which may be associated with a single vineyard are often deemed superior, although wines derived from multiple sites may also be highly regarded (Bramley, 2017). According to OIV, 2010, which should be considered an accepted definition, terroir is a loose interpretation of a protected designation of origin (PDO), thus questioning the need for a wine-specific term. For example, in the regulation of the European Union (EC No. 510/2006 Art. 2.1(a), Council of the European Union, 2006), in order to benefit from PDO status, an agricultural product needs to: i) originate and be produced, processed and prepared in the defined geographical area and ii) have "quality or characteristics essentially or exclusively due to a particular geographical environment with its inherent natural and human factors." The concept of geographical origin can be used in all crops and foods, and PDOs are defined and regulated. Conversely, the terroir interpretation applies mostly to wine and is not regulated, which leaves it open to abuse and self-assessment without control, scientific evidence or socio-historical recognition (Matthews, 2016). As a result, in the current popular use, the term terroir has erroneously become jargon for vineyard site. A designation of origin is a strict regulation. In order to maintain characteristics related to the place and the traditional practices, PDO products are made according to production standards, and are evaluated before introduction to the market, to ensure conformity to the important and distinctive characteristics that are the reason for the designation. It should be clear that, when including all aspects, a PDO is a product that brings a sense of place (although, PDO delineation most commonly follows political boundaries and not the limits derived from scientific understandings). Reverse engineering of geographically designated products may be straightforward, but it is definitely harder to recreate the collective knowledge, the human and cultural aspects, which are crucial to the past but also the future developments of food.