Term
Minerality
min-er-AL-ih-tee
A useful, slippery word
Tasting notes of wet stone, flint, chalk, and salt. You are not tasting dissolved limestone. You are tasting a cluster of effects we still argue about.
Vines do not suck slate into the grape like a straw. What we call minerality is often high acid, low fruit, reduction (struck match), salinity from coastal sites, or sulfur compounds. It still tracks with certain places: Chablis, Santorini, Mosel, Priorat schist.
Use the word when a wine tastes stony rather than fruity. Be ready to say which stone, and whether a swirl blows it off (reduction) or not (something more stubborn).
It is not a synonym for quality. Plenty of great wines are shamelessly fruity.
