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The concept of terroir is institutionalized through geographical indications (GIs) in large parts of the wine-producing world. GIs in wine are associated with certain taste characteristics. Mosel wine is said to be slender and fresh. However, external sources of pressure are recognized as challenging this notion. The purpose of this paper is to explore the narrative construction of Mosel wine and how institutions, markets and climate are presented as having implications for its taste.

Ethnographic fieldwork was carried out over ten weeks during the fall of 2016, consisting of three weeks of participant observation and 12 in-depth interviews. Post-fieldwork, data were interpreted as collective narratives. Additionally, a wide range of written sources on Mosel wine has been analyzed.

It is found that a development toward big-bodied wines was considered a threat to the region’s stylistic image, in which light-bodied wines represented the cornerstone. Consequently, this had triggered introspection and greater discursive attentiveness to “lightness” to preserve the credibility and identity of Mosel as a GI. Findings show that these aesthetic controversies functioned to recreate and consolidate the notion of Mosel wine and its sense of terroir.

Focusing on how taste in wine is narratively produced, this paper utilizes an inductive approach rarely employed within terroir research.