Perceived minerality in Greek monovarietal white wines by experts and a trained sensory panel: correlation with chemical markers

Abstract

Minerality is one of the most discussed and least clearly defined descriptors in modern wine science. Despite growing scientific interest, research on minerality has focused predominantly on international cool climate varieties, particularly Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc from Burgundy, Chablis, and New Zealand (Ballester et al., 2013; Parr et al., 2016; Rodrigues et al., 2017). In contrast, Greek white wines remain mainly unexplored, despite their longstanding reputation for mineral expression. The present study aimed to investigate the perception of minerality in Greek monovarietal white wines by combining sensory data from both a trained sensory panel and wine professionals with standard markers reflecting their chemical composition. Results indicated, clear differences across wines in perceived minerality by both experts and trained panel assessors, influenced by grape variety and region of origin. Moreover, results indicated an influence by the sensory modality used by the experts (aroma vs. holistic impression) on the categorization of the wines on minerality. Correlation was observed with few chemical markers.

References

Ballester, J., Mihnea, M., Peyron, D. and Valentin, D. (2013) Exploring minerality of Burgundy Chardonnay wines: A sensory approach. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, 19(2), pp. 140-152. 

Parr, W.V., Valentin, D., Breitmeyer, J., Peyron, D., Darriet, P., Sherlock, R., Robinson, B., Grose, C. and Ballester, J. (2016) Perceived minerality in Sauvignon Blanc: Chemical or cultural? Food Research International, 87, pp. 168-179.

Rodrigues, H., Sáenz-Navajas, M.-P., Franco-Luesma, E., Fernández-Zurbano, P., Ferreira, V., De La Fuente Blanco, A. and Ballester, J. (2017) Sensory and chemical drivers of wine minerality aroma: An application to Chablis wines. Food Chemistry, 230, pp. 553-562.