Minerality

This is contentious one, but it's gotta be said....there are so many various mineral elements in the soils that grapevines grow in, and yet science has proved that the grapevines don't actively absorb these compounds, let alone transmit them into the grapes (and thus the wine!)

So how do we get 'minerally' wines, and what are they?

There's no denying that some wines have a flavour/tactile sensation that is easily referred to as say 'limestone' or perhaps 'gravelly'. And yet these rocks have NO real flavour to speak of (don't worry, we've gone out and licked these rocks so you don't have to. Thank us later). So what's going on? Sadly, no one really knows, but there's a few ideas going around.

First of all there's the concept of pH and acidity. Wines with higher acidity and lower pH tend to be those that people will refer to as 'mineral' This lends weight to the idea that its a tactile sensation in the wine more than a flavour.

Then there's the idea of 'fruitiness'. Wines that are less fruity, and therefore more savoury and show other flavours apart from the fruity ones, are also more likely to be described as 'mineral'. Why is this? Is minerality a convenient term to describe these 'other' flavours? Or is there really something going on?

There's no doubting that some wines taste 'salty', and others have a distinctive 'chalky' tang, but  for now science hasn't been able to help us with they why.

Watch this space!