Minerality in Wine, Explained: How It Affects Taste, Aroma and Texture
And an exploration of the regions that produce great mineral-driven varietals.
If you have taken part in a wine tasting, read an article about wine, or even glanced at the back label of a bottle of wine, you have likely encountered the word minerality. But defining what that means exactly is where the problems can start—even wine experts disagree on what it is and how it expresses itself in the glass.
Minerality refers to a flavour profile and often a palpable sensation in the mouth. The flavours generally involve rocks or fossils, such as stone, river rock, flint, gravel, slate, asphalt and oyster shell. There is also a sense of salinity, often derived from volcanic soils, that is a component of mineral-driven wines. This is different from other earthy flavours such as forest floor or peat. When we host tastings, very few people will own up to having licked rocks as a child, but almost everyone has gotten a stray bit of oyster or clam shell in their mouth and can recall the taste and texture. Most of us can remember the scent of a chalkboard or pencil lead from our childhood, and even those who have never fired a gun are familiar with flint or gunpowder from firecrackers.
When minerality is discussed, it is often a quality ascribed to white wine such as Riesling, Assyrtiko, Sauvignon Blanc or Burgundian Chardonnay. We may not hear about minerality in red wine so much because the oak used for maturation may mask the flavours and aromas associated with minerality. However, two reds sometimes described as having mineral qualities are those from the volcanic soils of Mount Etna in Sicily and the shale and quartz vineyards of Priorat in Spain. A prime example of the mineral-driven style is Chablis in the northernmost reaches of Burgundy, whose wines are made with 100 percent Chardonnay. The wines have a distinctly different character than the oaky, buttery style prevalent in Napa Valley and further south in Burgundy.
Walking through the vineyards of Chablis you can see abundant fossilised oyster shells that date back 150 million years to the Upper Jurassic period, when this area was at the bottom of the sea. Dig a bit; you will find calcified ammonites and spiral-shaped cephalopods from the same era. While vineyard soil is a discussion for another day, the grey limestone here is called Kimmeridgian, named for the village of Kimmeridge in Dorset, England, where it was first identified. As Thierry Bellicaud, president of Domaine Laroche in Chablis told Robb Report, “The Kimmeridgian limestone soil, which is unique to this area, delivers all needed nutrients for the balance of the vines. The terroir nurtures the vines which then express its personality in the grapes.”
DOMAINE LAROCHE, CHABLIS, FRANCE
Asked how soil composition influences one of Domaine Laroche’s wines, Bellicaud referenced its Chablis Grand Cru Les Blanchots, “Les Blanchots is a unique terroir made of a layer of white clay on Kimmeridgian limestone with ammonites. This is the ideal combination to keep the right amount of water for the roots. The southeast exposure allows slow ripening and favours aroma development. It is one of the areas in the appellation where you can easily find oyster fossils (called Exogyra virgula). The Grand Cru Les Blanchots is delicate, refined and silky in texture.”
Assyrtiko from Santorini is almost always described as possessing a mineral quality as well as a touch of salinity, which can be attributed to the black volcanic soil in which it grows as well as to the Aegean Seaspray that wafts over the island’s vineyards. Mosel Valley Riesling’s leanness and flinty character come from the red and blue limestone in which it is cultivated.
Italy’s Soave region is also known for the minerality of its wine. Alessio Inama, third-generation family leader and director of sales, marketing and communication at Inama Azienda Agricola, told Robb Report, “Soave Classico is a volcanic region with soil made up of basaltic rocks, volcanic tuffs and ashes that date back 30 million years. The soils offer minerals in their natural form, which impact the composition of the plants themselves. In the case of grape vines, the soils have a major influence on the resulting flavours of the wines, which are mineral and floral.”
Known for their scrupulous mapping of micro-plots within their vineyards, the Inamas produce several different Soave wines made with the Garganega grape. Inama I Palchi Foscarino Grande Cuvée Soave DOC is crafted from the family’s best plots on Monte Foscarino. Inama explained, “The soil of Foscarino is a mix of pure magma, ashes and basaltic rocks that deteriorated over millions of years into a dark clay that is extremely rich in minerals. The grapes from those 40-year-old vines have strong personality, great intensity and texture, delivering a complex bouquet of white flowers, citrus notes and flinty sensations.”
SCALA DEI, PRIORAT, SPAIN
While the sensation of minerality can be less obvious in red wines, Spanish Garnacha and Sicilian Nerello Mascalese are two grapes that often exhibit it, thanks to both the locales from which they hail as well as the often-judicious use of oak. The slopes of eastern Sicily’s Mount Etna are covered with volcanic soils composed of pumice, black ash and basalt. Priorat, a region close to Barcelona in northeast Spain, is blessed with black quartz, slate and mica soils called llicorella. Here you will find vineyards covered with small fragments of black and grey striated rock sitting atop blue and red soils embedded with the same.
Ricard Rofes, winemaker at Scala Dei in Priorat, refers to its Mas Deu vineyard as one of the winery’s “jewels.” The origin of Scala Dei Tribut and Masdeu, it sits 800 meters (2,625 feet) above sea level. Rofes told Robb Report, “In this elevated area the clay and limestone soils are ideal for growing Grenache, giving the wine that touch of acidity and freshness that makes it unique. The red-clay soils and the altitude of the vineyards located in the lap of the Sierra de Montsant give it freshness and the llicorella soils impart a genuine imprint. Our wine is the pure expression of the fruit and the terroir with a distinct personality.”
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Omega Just Unveiled 9 Watches in Its New Constellation Observatory Collection
The line-up shows up a bevy of metals and colours, too, as well as two new calibres.
Omega’s latest watch is in a universe of its own.
The Swiss watchmaker just unveiled its new Constellation Observatory Collection today, the next step in its Constellation lineage and the first two-hand hour and minute timepieces to ever earn Master Chronometer certification. And if you were paying attention to any of the dazzling watches spotted at the Oscars this year, you would’ve caught a glimpse of the new line already: Sinners star Delroy Lindo rocked one of the models on the Academy Awards red carpet, giving us a pre-release preview of the collection.
Developed at Omega’s new Laboratoire de Précision (its chronometer testing lab open to all brands), the collection houses a set of nine 39.4 mm watches. The watches underwent 25 days of scrutiny there, analysed via a new acoustic testing method that recorded every sound emitted from the timepiece to track irregularities, temperature sensitivities, and more in the name of all things precision. (Details such as water resistance and power reserve are also thoroughly examined.) This meticulous process is all in the name of snagging that Master Chronometer label, meaning that the timepiece is highly accurate and surpasses the threshold for ultra-high performance. The Constellation Observatory Collection has now changed the game, though, thanks to its lack of a seconds hand.
“Until now, precision certification has required a seconds hand,” Raynald Aeschlimann, president and CEO of OMEGA, said in a press statement. “The development of a new acoustic testing methodology has made that requirement obsolete. It is this breakthrough that has enabled us to present the Constellation Observatory, the first two-hand watch to achieve Master Chronometer certification.”
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The Spring 2026 collection now in store underscores that sensibility. Silhouettes are elongated and fluid; cashmere, silk and featherweight merino move in sandy neutrals, creams and muddied earth tones, with flashes of marigold and pale turquoise breaking the calm. Tailoring is softly structured and projects confidence without aggression. Leather goods arrive in buttery skins that feel almost pre-lived, as though time has already worked its magic.
What distinguishes Loro Piana, particularly in a market that has grown noisier by the season, is its refusal to perform luxury in an obvious register. There are no oversized insignias telegraphing allegiance. Instead, the status is encoded in fibre count, in hand-feel, in how a coat hangs from the shoulder. It assumes the wearer knows and, crucially, does not need to announce it.
Sydney’s luxury landscape has matured in recent years; global houses no longer test the waters but commit to them. Yet Loro Piana’s arrival feels different. It is not trend-driven expansion but material logic. For a country whose sheep stations have long contributed to the house’s fabric story, this boutique reads almost as a thank-you note written in cashmere.
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Mauve on Up
Brisbane boutique stay Miss Midgley’s offers a viscerally human experience—especially if you dig pink.
On a sun-bleached corner of Brisbane’s New Farm, where the scent of frangipani mingles with the clink of coffee cups, stands a building that has lived more lives than most people. Once a premier’s residence, an orphanage, a hospital and a private school, the 160-year-old stone structure now finds itself reborn as Miss Midgley’s—a boutique stay that teaches a masterclass in how to make heritage feel modern.
Designed and run by architect-mother-daughter duo Lisa and Isabella White, Miss Midgley’s captures the cultural confidence of a city in bloom. Nowhere is that new confidence more visible than along James Street—the leafy, slow-burn heart of the city’s fashion and dining scene—where Miss Midgley’s sits quietly at the edge, its shell-pink façade glowing in the subtropical light.
Built of Brisbane’s rare volcanic tuff, the building’s soft mauves and pinks are more than aesthetic; they are its identity. Locals still remember its 1950s incarnation as the Pink Flats, and the Whites have honoured that legacy with a contemporary blush-toned exterior, chosen to harmonise with the stone’s peachy undertones. Inside, those hues continue in dusty terracottas, russets and the faint shimmer of brass tapware. “Design can’t afford to be for the sake of fashion,” Isabella White has said. “It has to respond to what’s in front of you.”
That sentiment is tangible in every corner. Five apartments, each with their own idiosyncratic floor plan, occupy the building. Ceilings bloom with heritage plasterwork, 19th-century wallpaper fragments have been preserved in the kitchens, and tiny hand-painted notes left by the architects point out original quirks: a misaligned beam here, a hidden archway there. It’s a kind of adult treasure hunt for design lovers, where discovery feels personal and unforced.
Even the picket fence, a heritage requirement, has been reimagined in corten steel—a sly nod to regulation turned into sculpture. It’s this blend of reverence and rebellion that gives Miss Midgley’s its edge: heritage without starch, nostalgia without sentimentality.
True to Brisbane’s easy elegance, luxury here is measured not in marble or minibar but in proportion, privacy, and personality. Each apartment—from the Drawing Room and the Assembly Hall to the Principal’s Office—is a self-contained sanctuary with its own kitchen, large bathroom and outdoor space. The ground-floor units open onto leafy courtyards and welcome small dogs; upstairs, the larger suites spill onto verandahs shaded by jacarandas.
At the heart of the property lies a solar-heated pool hemmed with tropical greenery and fringed umbrellas—more mid-century Palm Springs than colonial Brisbane. Around it, guests share a petite laundry, a communal library and that rarest of urban luxuries: a car park per apartment. The atmosphere is quietly collegiate—a handful of travellers who might nod to each other on the stairs but otherwise inhabit their own creative bubbles.
The hotel’s namesake, Annie Midgley, lends the project both its name and its spirit. An ambidextrous artist and teacher, she famously instructed two students at once, writing with both hands simultaneously—a fitting metaphor for the dual vision the Whites bring to the building: one hand rooted in history, the other sketching toward the future. “Not famous, yet known,” goes the property’s understated tagline—and indeed, Miss Midgley’s has quietly become that most desirable of addresses: the one whispered about by people who know.
Sustainability isn’t an accessory here; it’s structural. The adaptive reuse of the heritage building is its boldest environmental act. Solar panels power the property; an electric heat pump warms the pool; recycled decking and tiles frame the courtyard. The metre-thick tuff walls regulate temperature naturally, and the amenities follow suit—refillable bath products, biodegradable pods, Seljak blankets spun from textile off-cuts, and compendiums wrapped in Australian-made kangaroo leather. It’s slow luxury in the truest sense.
In a world of carbon-copy hotels, Miss Midgley’s feels deeply human—a place where history isn’t curated behind glass but lives in the warmth of stone and the flicker of afternoon light. The lesson it offers is simple and resonant: that the most elegant modernity often comes not from reinvention, but from listening to what’s already there.
