Comments on: Hey everybody, I’d like you to meet Brett… http://terroir.winelibrary.com/2007/08/22/hey-everybody-id-like-you-to-meet-brett/ A Wine Blog Dedicated To Terrior Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:08:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: alvin http://terroir.winelibrary.com/2007/08/22/hey-everybody-id-like-you-to-meet-brett/#comment-217298 Wed, 05 Sep 2007 03:45:32 +0000 http://terroir.winelibrary.com/2007/08/22/hey-everybody-id-like-you-to-meet-brett/#comment-217298 Tom Thanks for opening the dicussion on a very complex subject However the last 2 articles show a large amount of unneeded speculation on a well researched subject. It is clearly understood that the olifactory inpact of bret is from downstream chemistries and not directly from this spoilage yeast itvself. there are 4 key by-products. Most common are volatile phenols such as 4ep and 4eg (animal, barnyard bandaid etc).As a matter of fact the id of 4ep is considered proof of bret. volatile fatty acids can result in VA and other ugly critters Tetrahydropyridines are responsibile mousy character and is considered good or bad depending on the concentration. All of the above is dry stuff but most interesting to me is the long standing misinterpretation by many ,including the trade, of all earthy character which shows up in left bank bordeaux,some southern rhones and burgundy as terrior when in fact it is one of the many expressions of bret Tom
Thanks for opening the dicussion on a very complex subject However the last 2 articles show a large amount of unneeded speculation on a well researched subject. It is clearly understood that the olifactory inpact of bret is from downstream chemistries and not directly from this spoilage yeast itvself. there are 4 key by-products. Most common are volatile phenols such as 4ep and 4eg (animal, barnyard bandaid etc).As a matter of fact the id of 4ep is considered proof of bret. volatile fatty acids can result in VA and other ugly critters Tetrahydropyridines are responsibile mousy character and is considered good or bad depending on the concentration. All of the above is dry stuff but most interesting to me is the long standing misinterpretation by many ,including the trade, of all earthy character which shows up in left bank bordeaux,some southern rhones and burgundy as terrior when in fact it is one of the many expressions of bret

]]> by: Kent Benson, CSW http://terroir.winelibrary.com/2007/08/22/hey-everybody-id-like-you-to-meet-brett/#comment-189257 Fri, 24 Aug 2007 01:56:44 +0000 http://terroir.winelibrary.com/2007/08/22/hey-everybody-id-like-you-to-meet-brett/#comment-189257 Tom, As usual, your excellent commentary on Brettanomyces (breh-TAN-uh-MY-sees) prompted me to expand my own understanding of this yeast and its effects on wine. I was surprised to learn that as far back as the early 1900s, beer makers were deliberately inoculating their beer with brettanomyces in order to give it the character of English beers. I’m told that brettanomyces means British fungus in Latin. I found no less than 18 separate aromas attributed to brettanomyces: sweaty horse, old leather saddles, barnyard, manure, Band-Aids (this one seems to be dominant), antiseptic, rancid, wet dog, creosote, burnt beans, rotting vegetation, plastic (also prevalent), burnt plastic, vinyl, wet wool, cheese, vomit, and vinegar. Flavors included sour, twangy acidity, and a signature metallic after-taste. I had always heard the word mousy associated with brettanomyces. However, the research seems to differ. First, mousiness seems to be limited almost exclusively to taste, or more precisely, smelling retro nasally after swallowing. Secondly, wines that have bretty odors rarely smell or taste mousy. The two are virtually mutually exclusive. It is believed that the mousy taste is attributable to a compound produced by brettanomyces, but not by brettanomyces itself. This might explain what I have always thought to be a peculiar entry in the Oxford Companion to Wine. Under the subject, “faults in wines” it states that brettanomyces “cannot normally be smelled in wine unless it is alkalinized or rubbed in the palm of the hand (an action which neutralizes wine acidity). This mousy flavour is volatile only at neutral or high pH, which explains why it is not immediately apparent but builds up in the back of the mouth once a wine has been swallowed or expectorated, as the palate slowly returns to neutral pH through the buffering action of saliva.” This entry initially lead me to think brettanomyces could only be tasted, not smelled, when in fact it is mousiness (something different than brettanomyces) that is normally detected only after tasting, while brettanomyces can be detected by its aromas alone. Tom,

As usual, your excellent commentary on Brettanomyces (breh-TAN-uh-MY-sees) prompted me to expand my own understanding of this yeast and its effects on wine.

I was surprised to learn that as far back as the early 1900s, beer makers were deliberately inoculating their beer with brettanomyces in order to give it the character of English beers. I’m told that brettanomyces means British fungus in Latin.

I found no less than 18 separate aromas attributed to brettanomyces: sweaty horse, old leather saddles, barnyard, manure, Band-Aids (this one seems to be dominant), antiseptic, rancid, wet dog, creosote, burnt beans, rotting vegetation, plastic (also prevalent), burnt plastic, vinyl, wet wool, cheese, vomit, and vinegar. Flavors included sour, twangy acidity, and a signature metallic after-taste.

I had always heard the word mousy associated with brettanomyces. However, the research seems to differ. First, mousiness seems to be limited almost exclusively to taste, or more precisely, smelling retro nasally after swallowing. Secondly, wines that have bretty odors rarely smell or taste mousy. The two are virtually mutually exclusive. It is believed that the mousy taste is attributable to a compound produced by brettanomyces, but not by brettanomyces itself.

This might explain what I have always thought to be a peculiar entry in the Oxford Companion to Wine. Under the subject, “faults in wines” it states that brettanomyces “cannot normally be smelled in wine unless it is alkalinized or rubbed in the palm of the hand (an action which neutralizes wine acidity). This mousy flavour is volatile only at neutral or high pH, which explains why it is not immediately apparent but builds up in the back of the mouth once a wine has been swallowed or expectorated, as the palate slowly returns to neutral pH through the buffering action of saliva.”

This entry initially lead me to think brettanomyces could only be tasted, not smelled, when in fact it is mousiness (something different than brettanomyces) that is normally detected only after tasting, while brettanomyces can be detected by its aromas alone.

]]>