5 Dirty Secrets
Secrets in wine? How could it be…
Aside from varietal differences (i.e. Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon etc.) there are a lot of decisions through the farming and winemaking process that change the taste and outcome of each wine. The decisions made during each process can be due to a variety of reasons that range from cost, weather, preference, knowledge, skill and/or others. The decisions, like any decision, result in both good and bad wine results. The good, of course, is obvious… amazingly delicious wine. The bad… well, we think they result in dirty secrets.
The 5 Dirty Secrets we can taste in wine are:
1. Corked “TCA”
TCA or (Corked/Cork Taint) is an acronym for a chemical compound 2,4,6-trichloroanisole. When a wine is corked you have aromas and flavors of musty cardboard, wet dog or moldy basement. Corked wine is why some smell the cork of the wine before tasting. Smelling the cork is a quick and easy way to see if your bottle of wine is corked. Many say corked wine is a result of the cork but the result of poor wine storage is more of a factor. Have you ever had a corked wine?
2. Sulfides & Mercaptans
Sulfides and Mercaptans are chemically known as an organosulfur compound. This compound can be easily detected through aromas and flavors in a wine such as cured meats, boiled eggs, burnt rubber, garlic, onion or even cat pee. Traditionally these problems can be caused by vineyard over-spray programs to prevent mildew, etc., lack of nutrients during fermentation to the yeast strains and high fermentation temperatures during the winemaking process.
3. Brettanomyces “Brett”
Brettanomyces is more commonly known as “Brett”, a type yeast species. The yeast species has the potential to spoil wines through the production of volatile phenol compounds. Brett walks a fine line as many would argue a touch of Brett adds complexity and interesting personality to wines. Aromas and flavors of wine with Brett include Band-Aid, sweaty leather saddle and horse manure ‘barnyard’. You wonder how these aromas and flavors transpire? Yes! You guessed it… dirty barrels, tanks, hoses and winemaking equipment. When a winemaking space looks like a barnyard.. it will taste like one.
4. Cooked
When we talk about Cooked Wine .. we are not talking about cooking with wine or making a hot mulled wine. Cooked Wine is considered a wine flaw (#4 on our dirty secret list) that means the wine has had heat damage. Heat, during wine storage, is traditionally defined as 75-80+*F. Cooked Wine has aromas and flavors of toffee, stewed fruits and burnt caramel. In Cooked Wines, one might notice a change in color to brown in hue.
5. Volatile Acidity “VA”
When you think of VA, think of oxygen. Volatile Acidity is the measure of wine’s gaseous acids that contribute to a wine turning to vinegar. Acetic acid (a vinegar building bacteria) builds up in the wine when unhealthy grapes were picked or there is too much exposure to oxygen during the winemaking process. Aromas and flavors of VA include vinegar, balsamic and nail-polish remover. Yikes!
As we get closer to harvest, in the vineyard, we begin to have more choices. To ensure we do not have the ‘5 Dirty Secrets’ in our wine, we are going to be reviewing 5 things before we pick our grapes.
a. The health of the canopy.
b. The size, color and flavor of our grape clusters.
c. Testing sugar, alkalinity (pH) and total acidity (TA) in the grapes.
d. The uniformity of grape clusters on the vines and varietal block.
e. The potential problems before harvest such as mold (extra moisture on the grapes from rain or fog), raisin and sunburn (due to heat) and pests.
We went out into the vineyard and then tested our grapes back in our at-home lab to ensure we are on track for harvest. Visit our SHOP page, category – Winemaking Bootcamp Series and for a small fee you can learn more about ‘When to Pick’.
Check it out! https://www.hometownwineco.com/shop/ols/categories/winemaking-bootcamp-series
See you soon!
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Brian and Sara