Minerality, minerality, is a magic word. The magic lies not only in the metaphysical nature of the principles behind it, but also in the way it is used: we hear it a lot, we all talk about it, but we may not know what we mean by each other.
Although you can hear the term "minerality" dozens of times during a tasting over the years, the term has a very short history: it was absent from two landmark books, Emile Peynaud's The Taste of Wine in 1983 and Ann Noble's Wine Aroma Wheel in 1984, and it didn't become prominent until the 2000s with the revival of the idea of terroir.
The Oxford Companion to Wine by Jancis Robinson et al. will barely include it until its fourth edition in 2015 ("too popular to ignore" – Jancis Robinson), calling it "imprecise" and "elusive".
Indeed, if we can't agree on what minerality means, how can we go deeper?
Deconstructing the "minerality"
There are at least 3 main ways in which the term mineralogy is used:
1) Minerality on aroma/flavor
Often grouped into mineralized aroma/flavor descriptors, including flint flint, matchstick, oyster shell, etc. (or "hot brake pads", if you prefer). The hottest aroma of roasted sesame seeds at the moment also belongs to this list. Studies have shown that this type of aroma is often associated with sulfides produced by yeast during fermentation. When a wine is full of these sulphur aromas and the fruity aromas are restrained, it is often said that the wine smells "mineral". Such an aroma/flavor profile is commonly found in Chardonnay from Chablis and Burgundy, Moselle Riesling (especially dry), Sancerre and Sauvignon Blanc. On the other hand, in Marlborough, New Zealand, those Sauvignon Blanc full of unrestrained passion fruit flavor are destined to be out of the word "minerality".
2) Minerality in taste
Although studies have not found a correlation between pH and minerality, in practice, high-acidic, crisp wines are more often associated with a description of minerality than wines that are round and creamy. Not all high-acid wines are mineral, such as the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Replacing "high acidity" with "minerality" is neither precise nor necessary, but certain qualities that come with high acidity may give the impression that this wine tastes mineral. Another flavor that is often referred to as minerality is salty. Salty has a very low percentage of the wine's flavour, which can come from the salt in the vineyards and cellars near the sea, or from the succinic acid produced during fermentation.
3) Minerality on the palate
This description is related to the texture of the sake, which refers to a certain sense of friction (other than phenols), energy, and the sensation of electricity running down the throat when swallowing. Rajat Parr, an influential wine personality in the United States, once proposed to use the term "electricity" instead of the vague "minerality" to describe this feeling. Clark Smith, author of Postmodern Winemaking, argues that this sensation is closer in principle to our perception of acidity, so it can be called taste. Of course, whether it is tactile or tasteful, this feeling is difficult to convey through words alone.
Does minerality come from minerals in the soil?
Minerality implies that a wine contains a certain quality of minerals derived from the soil, whether it is aroma, taste or texture. It is often used to describe wines from barren (lacking topsoil) and rocky terrains, such as Chardonnay on the Chablis Chimori terraces and Riesling on the Moselle slate. It is mostly found in white wines, but is also used in a few red wines, such as the Grenache on the Priolato slate.
It was originally conceived that the flavours from the rocks would enter the grapes through the roots of the vine and then appear in the wine, which would have the ability to directly respond to the type of soil in which it originated. Wines from slate have slate flavors, wines from granite have granite flavors, and Chablis limestone soils contain marine paleontological fossils, so they taste like oyster shells – simple and brutal.
However, there is absolutely no scientific evidence for such a mechanical view. In his book Vineyards, Rocks, & Soils: The Wine Lover's Guide to Geology, geologist and wine researcher Professor Alex Maltman systematically argues that the interaction between vines and soil makes it impossible to bring out the taste of ore in wine. The vines selectively draw minerals that are beneficial to their growth based on their own needs and not on the composition of the soil. These minerals are ions dissolved in water, they have neither the original characteristics of rocks or soil, nor do they have a taste in themselves. In other words, whether the calcium absorbed by the vines comes from the limestone of Chablis Grand Cru, the clay of Macon, or the fertiliser applied by the winegrowers, it is only an indiscriminate nutrient for the vines.
Well, in principle, it is impossible to drink the taste of ore directly in wine, so secondly, is it possible that the content of mineral elements in wine affects the taste of wine? It's a possibility. Michael Tordoff of the Monell Center for Chemical Senses says that the human tongue is sensitive to the need to recognize minerals that are physiologically important to us, such as sodium, calcium, and magnesium. Some people are able to taste very low concentrations of calcium in the water, much lower than the calcium in wine. According to wine writer Dr. Jamie Goode, the mineral concentration in wine is between 1.5g/L~4g/L, which may be enough to enhance the taste of wine.
However, compared to water, the flavours and tastes of wine are very rich and complex, and there is a huge question mark over whether our tongue can taste the difference in mineral content among the many distractions.
The bad news is, probably not. Experiments conducted by Dr. Antonio Palacios and his team in 2014 showed that minerality is not correlated with the mineral content of wine. Not only that, but the study also reaffirmed in a very ingenious way the weak chicken trait of the human senses, which is extremely susceptible to psychological suggestion, even if the subjects are wine experts, such a thing as mineralogy – you hint at it and he really thinks it exists.
The source of minerality
Although little is known about the rationale, we can take a big step back and argue with our extremely flexible stature that wines from different soils often take on different styles, regardless of the principle. Grapes grown on barren slate tend to produce flint-flint flavors and a sense of energy and electricity in the mouth compared to grapes grown in fertile loam soils.
Roman Horvath MW, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the famous Domane Wachau, put it simply: "On the one hand, we know that the transfer of minerals from the soil to the wine is unproven; On the other hand, we all observe different styles of wines from different soils and different geological conditions. ”
There is certainly nothing wrong with such a statement in itself, but considering that there are so many variables in the process from cultivation to brewing. Some of our feelings about minerality are indirectly influenced by the soil, while others are not related to the soil.
Flint and steel flavors are indeed more likely to appear in wines from poor soils. These soils are low in nitrogen, which is an important food for yeast during fermentation. When the nitrogen content in the grape juice is low, the yeast feels "stressed" if no additional nutrients are added, and a large amount of flint and steel flavor tends to be metabolized.
The oyster shell flavor in Chablis mentioned earlier is also relevant. The high purity limestone on the left bank of the Serein River has a lower nitrogen content than on the right bank, forcing the yeast to metabolize a large amount of fishy methyl mercaptan, which is romantically linked to the fossils of marine ancient organisms in the limestone. Methyl mercaptan also masks the fruitiness of the wine, and the less fruity the more minerality.
To some extent, the reductive brewing method and the sulfide are mutually causal. Master of Wine Sam Harrop is a proponent of the term mineralogy, but he also believes that minerality is related to vinification, and that most reductive wines show more mineraliness in terms of aroma and texture.
Of course, if the term "reducing aroma" is too much to say, try Clark Smith's Petrichor, which is the smell of hot and dry land when it rains, not only to avoid the overabundance of "minerality", but also quite poetic.
In addition, those grapes that are grown in cold regions or harvested early will not smell so "sweet and ripe" and will naturally highlight the flavor beyond the fruity aroma, and if rounded off, it is basically mineral.
At the taste level, although the link between acidity and mineralogy is confusing in the results, the type of acid is related to mineralogy, with malic acid tasting more mineral than lactic acid. For example, studies have shown that despite the abundance of red wines, Priolato often has incomplete malolactic acid conversion and is therefore more mineral.
As for the saltiness, some of it comes from the salt in the vineyards and cellars by the sea, and although it is a sodium ion, which can be called a mineral, its source is more from the sea than from the soil.
In addition to the sourness, the succinic acid also presents a wonderful salty and bitter interplay at the back of the mouth, giving you a taste of Atlantic water in the wine at certain moments. Of course, the production of succinic acid has little to do with soil or minerals, and is mainly produced by wild yeasts at higher fermentation temperatures. The author suspects that the so-called "current sense" is largely due to succinic acid.
There are many factors that affect the sense of minerality, and it is impossible to say enough for a while. But Master of Wine Sarah Jane Evans half-jokingly gives a minerality formula: [SS+A+CC] – [E+T] – [O²] = Minerality.
SS=Stony Soils多石的土壤；A=Acid酸度；CC=Cool Climate冷凉气候；E=Esters，酯类香气，Thiols=硫醇，他们共同造就了奔放的果味；O²=氧气。
That is to say: [stony soil + high acidity + cool climate] - [fruity] - [oxygen] = minerality. As for the applicability of this formula, it is up to the reader to judge for himself.
Lao Tzu said, "The Tao is the Tao, and the Tao is very Tao." "It's not clear what to say about the minerality, but we just sincerely hope that wines that are grown on barren soils should produce more soul than even the most skillful industrial wines.