Updated October 2021
How do you define “Minerality”?
Recently we received a question about the often-used wine descriptor, minerality. You’ve likely heard a wine described as “bursting with minerality”; but what does that word actually mean?
If you’re having trouble coming up with a detailed description of the minerality, you’re not alone. The word is absent from all major dictionaries.
Several years ago, the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research lined up over a dozen accomplished wine critics in a blind taste test and asked them to rank the wines in terms of minerality. The results were scattered–the critics couldn’t agree on what minerality meant. The study showed that some critics associated high acid with minerality. While others noted more reductive qualities.
Which wines have minerality?
If the term is so ambiguous, why is it so widely used? The term minerality likely benefits from advertising of bottled water companies–spring water in contact with rocks tastes superior. Continuing with this theory, wine that absorbs rocks and soil gives off a sense of terroir.
Can wines really absorb the aroma and taste found in the soil? This is also highly disputed. Some wine critics argue that wines found in Chablis, Burgundy absorb soil characteristics like saline and oyster shells.
Our take
When we hear the word minerality, we picture fresh falling rain hitting cobble-stoned streets. We imagine fresh, crisp white wines with a touch of salinity.
For us, it’s about the taste and aroma–but for others, it could be about texture, acidity, color or even effervescence.
Like most things in wine, it’s subjective. A wine that tastes big and tannic may taste thin and light to someone else — perspective, experience (past and present), mood are some factors that play into it.
We must accept that minerality is a controversial term and is not clearly defined–at least for the moment.
While we will personally continue using the term in the future, we may be more precise: i.e., picking up notes of minerality from the aroma, speciifcally the scent of fresh slate and salinity. Perhaps this is a good stop-gap measure until more research is done to more clearly define the term.
How do you define minerality?
Do you agree with our definition? Let us know on our Instagram or drop us a line on our contact page.
