February 21st, 2010

this wine tastes like mouse urine to me

39PS0763-mouse-md
I don’t believe this image exists. Thanks google image search.

The wikipedia page on wine faults describes with scientific detail all the things that can go wrong with wine, and describes the processes and causes.

I love the terms lightstrike, ladybird taint, ropiness and mousiness. The following is about ladybird taint:

Some insects present in the grapes at harvest inevitably end up in the press and for the most part are inoffensive. Others, notably types of ladybirds, release unpleasant volatile compounds as a defensive mechanism when disturbed. In sufficient quantities this can affect the bouquet and taste of wines. With an olfactory detection threshold of a few ppb, the principal active compounds are methoxypyrazines, or pyrazines, that are perceived as rancid peanut butter, bitter herbaceous, green bell pepper or cat urine.

More at wikipedia.


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