Perceived minerality in Sauvignon wines: Influence of culture and perception mode

• The vague but frequently employed wine descriptor ‘mineral’ was investigated.
• New Zealand and French wine professionals judged perceived minerality in Sauvignon wines.
• Perception of mineral character was demonstrated in three perception mode conditions.
• Cross-cultural similarities and differences were demonstrated.
• Specific wine attributes associated statistically with judgments of minerality.

Description of wine in terms of perceived mineral character has become common practice in recent decades. The major aim of our study was to investigate cultural differences in perception of minerality in wines from France and New Zealand, these countries having very different wine-production histories. A second aim was to investigate influence of perception mode on perceived mineral character in wine to gain increased understanding of the metaphorical descriptor “mineral” as applied to wine chemosensory attributes. Thirty-two French and 31 New Zealand wine professionals evaluated 16 wines (8 French; 8 New Zealand) under three conditions: orthonasal olfaction; global (orthonasal and retronasal olfaction; taste; other palate sensations); and nose-clip (taste and palate sensations only). Results demonstrated that both French and New Zealand participants reported minerality to be perceived via all three perception modes. In terms of culture, similarities and differences were both observed in terms of quantitative judgments of minerality, and in terms of the wine attributes perceived as related to minerality. Cross-cultural differences were particularly evident in the global condition. Results are described in terms of cognitive processing of metaphorical terms employed to label perceived wine attributes.