Wine ‘minerality’ is not what you think

By Christopher Waters, Special to the Globe and Mail

On the eve of the 13th annual International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration (i4C), Christopher Waters revisits a controversial topic that divided the audience at a previous i4C “School of Cool.” In a presentation given by Alex Maltman, emeritus professor of Earth sciences at Aberystwyth University in Wales, UK, and the author of Vineyards, Rocks and Soils: A Wine Lover’s Guide to Geology, he discusses the contentious use of the word “minerality” in wine descriptions.

“The belief that we are tasting the geology of the vineyard directly is a lovely idea, Maltman explained during a talk at the 2015 edition of Niagara’s chardonnay celebration. ‘Journalists love it. It offers all sorts of good marketing opportunities, but I am afraid from a scientific point of view, it doesn’t really hold up. Vines don’t work like that.'”

Read on.