Sensory evolution of minerality in Chasselas wines

Abstract

The term ‘minerality’ is one which is still widely employed to describe wines. Mineral wines have sensory characteristics such as gunflint aromas, sometimes extending to reduction odours. These wines are distinguished by their aromatic and gustatory freshness, which is frequently associated with acidity. Whilst the majority of studies on minerality have been conducted on young wines, minerality is frequently associated with the ageing potential of wines. Nevertheless, the sensory evolution of minerality over time remains not studied, and it is this gap that this work aims to address. A total of 80 Chasselas wines (vintage 2012) were evaluated on an “exemplary scale” by 62 Swiss professionals, to select contrasting pairs of wines. The selected wines are composed of seven mineral wines (good examples) opposed to seven non-mineral wines (poor examples). An expert panel then described these 14 wines using the sensory profile method over three different years (2015, 2016, and 2018) in order to study the impact of ageing between the two categories of wines. The findings demonstrate that specific characteristics associated with minerality, including freshness, acidity and tension, are sustained or amplified in mineral wines during the ageing process. The gunflint aromas persist in the early years, subsequently fading and disappearing after six years (tasting conducted in 2018). Similarly, young mineral wines do not exhibit any indications of evolution or milky odours (lactic, milk), nor even slight oxidation, in contrast to non-mineral wines. Beyond the minerality criteria sought, mineral wines seem to benefit from superior ageing potential.