On consecutive days last week, I was assaulted by two different bottles of wine. Each time was a misdemeanor -- both wines were corked.
Since cork taint has become less of an issue over the last few years because of the diligence of cork-producing companies to make closures free of the chemical that produces it, the subject hasn’t come up recently.
And this wasn’t the winemaker’s fault. Luck of the draw.
The next day I was assailed again. This time it was the winemaker’s fault – a bottle of wine from an emerging wine region committed a felony. It was infected with volatile acidity. Decades ago, this was fairly common. Today it can be eliminated simply, except in that emerging region, apparently.
These episodes reminded me, as if I needed reminding, how risky it is to try turning grape juice into a sublime potable without the requisite skills in chemistry and microbiology. Winemaking also ideally calls for other technical skills as well as a passion for sensory evaluation, historical perspective, food science and about a dozen other traits.
It would take a large book to deal with the many spoilage elements that may be found in wine, including topics like Brettanomyces, sulfides, sulfites (they differ), pediococcus, acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate and even such mundane stuff as smoke taint.
The latter is a major topic among winemakers after recent wine country fires, and not only in California.
The issue of cork taint isn’t as prevalent as it was 20 years ago, when about 3% of all wines were so infected. That problem was due to corks infected with TCA (trichloroanisole), a chemical linked to the use of the cleaning agent bleach. (Peroxide-based cleansers carry no such risk.)
I can detect TCA-infected wines at extremely low levels. It’s commonly seen by most winemakers at 2 to 3 parts per trillion. It smells moldy, like a moist dishrag.
The best way to treat a TCA-infected wine is to pour it into a decanter or pitcher and toss in a wad of polyethylene for several minutes. That can wipe out the moldy aroma. (I’ve tried it; it works.)
Then there are sulfites. Some people believe it is a deadly toxin. Believers in “natural” wines don’t support its use as a preservative. This sulfite controversy has been swirling for decades, and the truth is simpler than you might think.
Almost all wines in this world have sulfites added. It has been used to make sound, stable wines for thousands of years and is safe to use in winemaking.
Sulfites also exist in wines that had none added. A small level of natural sulfites is a byproduct of fermentation.
Most wines sold in this country have a “contains sulfites” statement on labels, by government edict. All have roughly the same level of sulfites, a few parts per million.
The fact that you don’t see the “Contains Sulfites” label on wines you buy in other countries is that other governments don’t require that statement.
As to the effect sulfur has on the human body: when it’s found in wine, it’s generally harmless. That’s because the pH of wine ranges from about 2.8 (the very lowest I’ve ever seen) to about 4.0. Sulfites are only dangerous at extremely low pH levels, such as 2.3.
At that level, a liquid is equivalent to unsweetened lemon juice -- so tart no one would drink it.
Red wine headaches (so-called Red Head) probably are unrelated to sulfites. The red wine headache is a real syndrome, but scientists have been unable to determine exactly what triggers it. It’s thought to be related to histamines.
Some people assume that wine made from organic grapes is a solution to Red Head Syndrome. But even wines made from organically grown grapes often contain as much sulfites as any other wine.
Wines with no sulfites added can be fragile. Some may decline in quality sooner than later. Frey Vineyards in Mendocino County has worked diligently over decades to make stable wines without sulfite additions.
Smoke taint is one of the more recent spoilage components found in wines and it’s a nasty one since some of the worst examples I’ve tasted are a lot worse than the aroma of a campfire.
After the 2008 fires in Mendocino County, one winemaker told me his red wine was “like licking an ashtray.” No matter what tactic he used, he couldn’t salvage the wine, which was basically discarded.
Australia’s devastating bush fires over the last few years have left many Aussie wines with smoke taint, prompting the world’s finest wine inquiry agency, the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI), to study the issue.
One of several conclusions the AWRI made was: “Activated carbon products can be used to treat smoke-affected juices (white or rosé) or wines; however, they also remove positive colour, aroma and flavour compounds.” AWRI suggested that dilution of smoke-tainted wines is another solution.
The aroma of smoke also is a factor in another spoilage element, the yeast brettanomyces, which occasionally is found in red wines (rarely in whites).
Brett, as winemakers call it, can create two different, related compounds. One is 4-ethylphenol (4-EP), a radical compound that can smell like a barnyard, mercurochrome/iodine, sweaty saddle -- or as a friend once described it, “wet dog in a phone booth.”
In other words, not very pleasant. But 4-EP also can leave a wine more astringent than wines without it.
A related byproduct of Brett, and a cousin to 4-EP, is 4-EG, 4-ethylguiacol, which can have a bacon/smoke aroma that some people like, but which some winemakers detest.
Oddly, Brett can also be used in making quality beer and often yields a fascinating complexity unlike traditional brews.
One fairly common spoilage component in white, rosé, and sparkling wines is called a lightstruck aroma, a sulfur-y note that affects wine and beer packaged in clear glass bottles that are exposed to various forms of light, especially fluorescent. (Such as in grocery refrigerator cases.)
A photochemical reaction creates a sulfite-y aroma similar to a skunk, shallots, or garlic – or occasionally urine. This can happen in any wine or beer bottled in clear glass. This risk is one reason why so many quality beer and wine producers avoid clear glass bottles (called flint in the industry) and resort to dark brown (amber), dark green (dead-leaf), and even black.
Roederer Cristal, one of the finest of all French Champagnes, has traditionally been bottled in flint bottles, but to protect the wine from lightstruck aromas, the company, wraps each bottle in a colored cellophane “robe” to combat lightstruck spoilage.
(Needless to say, beware of Cristal bottles displayed in retail shops without the cellophane wrapper.)
Some people find that certain grapes from certain regions (such as a cold-climate Cabernet Sauvignons) can have an aroma of bell pepper, something they don’t like. This isn’t a spoilage component – it’s merely an example of varietal intensity, called methoxypyrazine, a natural compound in many wines, notably Cabernet Sauvignon.
Wine of the Week: 2018 Nielson Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County ($19) – The aroma of this very nice Pinot Noir displays the classic Central Coast characteristics of green herbs, dried spices, and the wine has an entry that’s rich and medium bodied. The aftertaste shows good acidity.
In movies, opera singers can shatter a wine glass using just their vocal cords, but it's apparently a lot harder than it looks.
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Dan Berger lives in Sonoma County, Calif., where he publishes "Vintage Experiences," a subscription-only wine newsletter. Write to him at winenut@gmail.com. He is also co-host of California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon on KSRO Radio, 1350 AM.
June 24, 2021 at 04:15AM
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