“Minerality” is a word that is often used lately in wine reviews, especially white wines. It is a term that is relatively new; only in the past few decades has it become a popular term for both aromas and flavors. But it is not a defined term per se…in fact, it is not even part of the Wine and Spirit Trust Strategic Approach to Tasting (only “wet stones” come close).
What exactly is “minerality”? To tackle this perplexing question, I turned to my wine geology guru, Professor Alex Maltman. Prof. Maltman is Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University in Wales, and the author of Vineyards, Rocks & Soils: The Wine Lover’s Guide to Geology (Oxford University Press, May 2018). This is a very informative read, and a must have reference book for any wine scholar.
Click here for Andrew Jefford’s review of the book. Andrew Jefford reviews ‘vineyards, rocks and soils’ by prof Alex Maltman (decanter.com)
I have very much enjoyed Prof. Maltman’s wine and geology webinars, available to Wine Scholar Guild members on demand (Wine Scholar Guild) as well as the series of lectures on soils. I’ve bantered about the term “minerality” on occasion, trying to define something particular I am tasting in the wine.
So, I decided to go to the expert and find out his opinion on what “minerality” means and how we can better describe wines.
Grapevines, like all plants, need certain minerals to thrive. In our chat Prof. Maltman explains that vines are not able to access minerals in a way that we could actually taste them in the wine. In fact, minerals in soils have no taste at all, with the exception of salt. Many factors, including the grape variety, the rootstock, the yeasts used, the organic component of the soils (humus, microbes, etc) are at work in creating the flavors of wine. But not the rocks in the soil per se.
So, what is at that people are referring to when they say “minerality”, “chalky”. “flinty”, “graphite” and such?
Please enjoy our discussion about minerality and wine!
Want to learn more? Here’s a link to a great article about wine and soils: Busting wine terroir myths: The science of soil and taste – Decanter
