What: Cat urine
Taste it in: Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is famous for its signature “cat pee on a gooseberry bush” flavour – a mixture of cat urine, tropical fruit and green aromas. It is believed to derive in part from thiols, organic compounds containing sulphur. . And wine from grapes harvested by machine seems to have than those picked by hand. That may be because the harvester can also pick up leaves containing thiol precursors. Such compounds are then transformed in thiols by yeast during fermentation.
What: Bell peppers
Taste it in: Merlot, Marlborough, New Zealand
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Ladybirds excrete pungent chemicals called methoxypyrazines. If too many of the insects are clinging to the grapes when they get crushed, the resultant “ladybird taint” is often described as vegetal, grassy or like bell peppers. The same chemicals occur naturally in grapes too. High levels are found in grapes growing in cooler climates and ones that don’t get much sun in the early stages of their growth. In its early days as a wine region, chilly Monterey, California became well known for the bell peppery quality of its reds, a flavour that earned the unwelcome nickname “Monterey veggies”. Bushy, vigorous vines with access to lots of water also tend to produce . These compounds are not always considered a negative, however. They are common in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc grown in colder climates, and are thought to be part of the signature flavour of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Like thiols, some of the methoxypyrazines in Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc could derive from during machine harvesting.
What: Menthol
Taste it in: Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, Australia
Some 40 per cent of Australian red wines contain detectable eucalyptol, which has a spicy, cooling aroma that many people enjoy. Until recently, it wasn’t clear whether the flavour came from the grapes themselves, or was imparted somehow by the native eucalyptus tree. In 2012, scientists from the Australian Wine Research Institute announced they have an answer: and crushed with the grapes.
What: Leathery barnyard
Taste it in: Wines from Chateau Musar, Lebanon
The yeast Brettanomyces produces compounds that can leave wines with a strong, unpleasant smell, sometimes described as mousy or rancid barnyard. But in small doses it can impart a spicy, earthy quality – think smoked meat, cloves and leather – embraced by some wineries, including Chateau Musar in Lebanon. “Brett” yeast, which is most common in red wines, particularly those from Bordeaux and Rhone, has recently had its . To better understand how this commercially important microbe affects wine, scientists have now begun to .
What: Intense sweetness
Taste it in: Tokaji from Hungary
The Tokaj region of Hungary is one of the many places where winemakers are reliant on the fungus Botrytis cinerea. This appreciation of the fungus’s effect has purportedly been going on in the area since the 17th century, when someone discovered that grapes shrivelled by what is known as noble rot produced ultra-sweet wine with hints of caramel, ginger and peach. The fungus has a dark side, though. , a grey dusty powder that renders grapes unusable.
Read more: “Au revoir, terroir? The science of what makes great wines tick“
