No, I don’t mean “salty” language, but rather, one sometimes sees the word salty or saline in tasting notes (and I find some of that myself occasionally) - I think white wines chiefly. Afik there is no salt in wine, so what gives rise to it?
I love a streak of salinity in my reds. Northern Rhone syrah showcases this note oftentimes. Saline. Broth. Cured Meats. Iodine. Etc.
Drinking a 2015 Domaine Pepiere Clos de Briords that showcases it as well. Pairs yummy with oysters.
Cannot tell you the “why,” only the “there”.
Txakolina from Bssque Spain has obvious salty taste.
Not a profound view, but my theory is that the constant seawinds from North Atlantic keeps spraying vines and soil.
I get salt notes in some Syrah.
Sometimes there is a kind of salt in wine. There may be sodium, calcium, potassium, etc. It’s actually a problem in some regions - Baja Mexico for example, and south Australia and there have been several studies on it. Some think it’s due to poor quality irrigation, others to the fact that irrigating is bringing out salts that have been in the soils for years that never washed out of desert regions. But it’s actually a problem for some producers.
My hunch though, is that you’re not tasting that kind of saltiness - the mere presence of something in the soil doesn’t mean that it ends up in the grapes. Anyway, significant imbalances in the various salts, or excessive sodium chloride, would kill the vines.
You can get saltiness other ways too, but I think it’s our perception filling in some blanks rather than actual sodium chloride. Sometimes you can pick up flavors from wood or various yeasts - a kind of savoriness, and our brains associate that with salt. I get that once in a while in some Syrah, as well as some wines from Ribera del Duero. I actually kind of like it.
Assyrtiko from Greece, Muscadet from France. Salt and minerals.
Wine contains Potassium Bitartrate, sometimes plenty of it, which is a salt (an acid salt in fact…aka both an acid and a salt). That’s probably not the source tho. But we’re still trying to understand the perception of acidity (*), so it’s not surprising that we don’t know much about other aspects of the perception of wine.
*: At least in wine, the perception of acidity isn’t primarily driven by it’s pH (cuz the acids are weak). But it’s likely it’s not TA (titratable acidity, which basically is total acidity in the wine). As an example, the TA of wine is usually around 5-7 grams/liter of acid (normallized to tartaric)…yet adding, say, 0.03 gm/liter of citric acid, which is nothing from a TA perspective, will have a substantial impact on how acidic the wine tastes.
Eric - I’m curious, if there were actually substantial sodium chloride in the juice (say, from sea breezes), would that affect fermentation?
Barbera quite often has a saltiness in my opinion.
I adore this note in my white burgs
Marc, yes in moderation (like all things), including in Chablis.
In a review of one of our wines Antonio G. mentioned “pungent, saline notes that are typical of the Yorkville Highlands”. The soils in Yorkville Highlands are ancient schist and slate with high magnesium content - from my understanding Bierzo is probably the closest soil correlation. I have no idea how that would translate into salinity.
Chablis was the first thing that came to mind. North Atlantic spray.
I assume this is attributed to vineyards grown on old oyster beds
I have had this perception in quite a few wines. Don’t think it has been mentioned in Beaujolais, but I find it in those wines often, and it can be a nice trait.
I find saline qualities in Burgundian whites in a wine but more so in the ocean driven wines of Rias Baixas or the western edge of the Loire Valley (Muscadets). More than any other wine I’ve tasted, however, the 2015 Caravaglio Bianco Secco from the island (and DOC) of Salina really captured the essence of saline in a wine for me. Peaches and Seabreeze all the way…fantastic wine. (disclosure - I offered this wine for a “flash” sale over the summer but never carried it for more than a few days)
Yup, David…the Italians have a term "salado " which they use for high-acid Barberas that have sort of a salty taste. Obviously not NaCl.
Tom
Beyond those mentioned, I’ve also found a strong saline element in some roses – especially the early vintages of Arnot Robert’s Touriga Nacional Rose Luchsinger Vineyard.
And I remember drinking an Albarino from Benito Santos (made when Todd Blomberg was still there) that reminded me – with its lashings of citrus and salt – of drinking a salt-rimmed margarita on the rocks. Truly delicious.
It seems as if high acid and salinity can go hand in hand. Once a wine “fattens” in certain vintages, the salinity is no longer as perceptible.
I have noted (and I really enjoy) a salty component in syrah - sometimes it is mixed in with a seaweed type of flavor. I think I would really dig a salty note in a white wine too - just haven’t had that opportunity yet. Cheers!
Just saw this thread. I love it because it touches on something I’ve struggled to put a finger on for reds.
Besides syrah, this is a great one for salty character. I also had some pinot noir from the Loire that gave me this sensation. I wish I could remember it.