The notion of terroir — the belief that climate, soil and farming practices combine in a unique crop — is centuries old and one of the issues with California’s decision to legalize cannabis. State officials say they will set up a body to decide if certain parts of the state deserve “their own exclusive appellations for cannabis, like Champagne and Bordeaux wine in France, says the Wall Street Journal.
“Wine connoisseurs taste the subtle differences between grapes grown just miles from each other in slightly different climates. Now, as pot laws relax around the country, ‘cannasseurs’ are refining their own taste buds for buds,” says the Journal.
The Trichrome Institute in Colorado trains “cannabis sommeliers,” says the newspaper. Its president, Max Montrose, told the Journal that cannabis, as an ancient plant, is “sophisticated in how many types there are and how it affects people in so many ways.” The Journal says there is debate if foggy Northern California is as extraordinary for marijuana as Bordeaux is for wine; one expert says the sunny Central Valley might be better.