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PhrasesWine TastingQuesto bianco è molto minerale.
B1

Questo bianco è molto minerale.

This white wine is very mineral.

Pronunciation

mi-ne-RA-le — four syllables, stress on third.

When to use it

When tasting a white wine with a distinctive mineral, stony, or saline character — common in wines from volcanic or limestone soils.

What it means

'Minerale' = mineral. The mineral quality in wine is debated scientifically (minerals do not volatilise into aromas) but is widely used as a descriptor for wines with a clean, stony, saline, or oyster-shell character. Common in wines from volcanic soils (Etna, Soave).

Variations

Sento il sale in questo vino.

I taste salt in this wine.

Saline quality is classic in wines from Campania (Fiano, Greco) and Sicilian coast wines

È un vino da territorio vulcanico?

Is it a wine from volcanic soil?

Volcanic soils (Etna, Soave, Campi Flegrei) often produce distinctively mineral wines

Questo bianco ha una bella freschezza acida.

This white wine has a beautiful acid freshness.

Acidity ('freschezza acida') is the structural element that carries minerality

Mini Dialogue

— Questo bianco è molto minerale. — Sì — viene dall'Etna, da uve Carricante su terreno di lava basaltica. — Si sente la pietra e il sale. — Esatto — è il terroir vulcanico che dà questa mineralità.

— This white wine is very mineral. — Yes — it comes from Etna, from Carricante grapes on basaltic lava soil. — You can taste the stone and the salt. — Exactly — it is the volcanic terroir that gives this minerality.

Cultural Note

Mount Etna has become one of the world's most exciting wine regions in the past 20 years. Nerello Mascalese (red) and Carricante (white) grown on the volcano's basaltic soils produce wines of extraordinary minerality and complexity. The altitude (600–1000m), old vines, and volcanic soil combine for unique terroir.