Minerality in Wine: Towards the Reality behind the Myths

Abstract

Tasting minerality in wine is highly fashionable, but it is unclear what this involves. The present review outlines published work concerning how minerality in wine is perceived and conceptualised by wine professionals and consumers. Studies investigating physico-chemical sources of perceived minerality in wine are reviewed also. Unusually, for a wine sensory descriptor, the term frequently is taken to imply a genesis: the sensation is the taste of minerals in the wine that were transported through the vine from the vineyard rocks and soils. Recent studies exploring tasters’ definitions of minerality in wine support this notion. However, there are reasons why this cannot be. First, minerals in wine are nutrient elements that are related distantly only to vineyard geological minerals. Second, mineral nutrients in wine normally have minuscule concentrations and generally lack flavour. Results of reviewed studies overall demonstrate marked variability in both wine professionals’ and wine consumers’ definitions and sensory-based judgments of minerality in wine, although there is some consensus in terms of the other wine attributes that associate with the term mineral. The main wine composition predictors of perceived minerality involve a complex combination of organic compounds dependent on grape ripeness and/or derived from wine fermentations and redox status.

Statistical Modelization of the Descriptor “Minerality” Based on the Sensory Properties and Chemical Composition of Wine

“…On the other hand, as noted in the model built based on active olfactory analysis, compounds such as ethyl acetate, nail lacquer aroma and glue, and other compounds such as isoamyl alcohol, fusel or distinctly fruity notes [10,11], as in the case of the banana-scented isoamyl acetate, contribute negatively to the mineral attributes. It is not surprising that the presence of fruity aromas such as those produced by organic esters contribute negatively or contrary to the perception of "minerality", previously described this hypothesis by Par et al [12][13][14].…”

The Influence of the Soil Profile on the Formation of the Elemental Image of Grapes and Wine of the Cabernet Sauvignon Variety

“…Soil is an important nutrient medium in which the development of underground organs of the grapevine (root trunk, root system) takes place [30]. The grapevine, participating in geochemical processes, selectively absorbs the elements it needs from the soil in quantities corresponding to its physiological and biochemical needs [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. Various macroelements enter the plant from the soil, such as K (contained in the tissues of grapes), Ca (stimulates the growth and development of the plant as a whole), Na, Mg, and microelements-Fe, Cu, Zn, Co, Mn, etc.-affecting various enzymatic and other biological processes of the grapevine [34].…”

Minerality in Wine: Textual Analysis of Chablis Premier Cru Tasting Notes

“…Producers, merchants, and critics regularly refer to minerality as a defning high-quality characteristic of wine [3,5] and make connections between its presence and the "terroir" of the region or vineyard in which the wine is produced [8][9][10]. Te suggestion is that the inorganic components of an area's geology and soil can be sensed in its wine by virtue of a wine's "minerality," although this literal understanding of the term has since been disputed in the academic literature [2,3,11].…”