Impact of Closure Permeability on the Perception of Wine Minerality

Minerality is one of the most debated and frequently discussed terms in the wine world, making it a subject of growing scientific interest. Wine researchers attempted to define the term minerality and to identify factors that influence it. However, this task remains challenging, as minerality is a multidimensional and complex descriptor to work on. Previous studies have associated minerality with several wine descriptors (flinty, chalky, wet stone, reductive, etc.) and chemical compounds (some volatile compounds, sulfur compounds, etc.). The present study aimed to investigate the impact of the oxygen permeability of corks on the perception of minerality in wine. Since the amount of oxygen present in the wine can alter its chemical composition, including sulfur compounds, it may consequently influence the perception of minerality. To study the possible impact of the oxygen permeability of corks on the perception of minerality in wine, a sensory evaluation of minerality was conducted with a group of wine experts on 12 wines closed with stoppers having different oxygen permeabilities. The sensory session was divided into two sub-sessions: one using black glasses and the other with transparent glasses. During each sub-session, experts first assessed the aroma profile of the wine samples and then the flavor profile. The results of the evaluation showed a gradient structure of perceived minerality across the wine samples according to the oxygen permeabilities of their corks. The study confirmed that lower oxygen permeability of cork leads to higher perception of minerality, while higher permeability is associated with diminished mineral character. Moreover, the results also demonstrated that visual appearance significantly influenced minerality perception.