Menu Dinner 763
Menu Dinner 763
Golden City Downstairs
December 17 2015
President Shaun English
Foodmaster Andrew Lewis
Winemaster Andrew Bradley
Canapes:
Oysters with Chardonnay Dressing
Peking-Style
Duck with Plum Sauce
Champagne: Pierre Peters Blanc de Blanc
Entrée:
Lobster and fennel salad
Wine: 2007 Ramonet Chassagne M Morgeots
2010 Malvira Roero Arneis Renesio
Main:
Traditional Roast Beef, Turkey, Pork with all the trimmings
Traditional Roast Beef, Turkey, Pork with all the trimmings
Wine: 1996 Penfolds Bin 407
2010 Palacios Petalos Mencia (Tempranillo)
2004 Moccagatta
Barbaresco Bric-Balin
Dessert:
Christmas Plum Puddings
Christmas Plum Puddings
Port: 1994 Ramos Pinto - Late Bottled
Vintage Port
Federation Dinner Saturday April 30 2016
PO Box 285, Pennant Hills, NSW 1715
www.wineandfood.org.au
fwfsa.inc@gmail.com
Diary Dates
The Executive of the Federation of Wine and Food Societies of Australia advises
that the Federation will be holding its Annual General Meeting on the afternoon of
Saturday 30 April 2016in Melbourne to be followed by the Federation Dinner on Saturday 30 April 2016
and the Federation Luncheon on Sunday 1 May 2016
An invitation to attend and more details will be sent in due course, in the meantime please
advise all members of the Society of the above dates for the 2016 Federation functions.
Peggy Sanders
Secretary,
Federation of Wine and Food Societies of Australia
20 November 2015
President: Ian Arnold
ianarnold01@bigpond.com
M: 0419217724
T: 02 94819185
Secretary: Peggy Sanders
fwfsa.inc@gmail.com
M: 0413481854
Treasurer: John Peirce
john.peirce@optusnet.com.au
M: 0421224543
Menu Dinner 761
Dinner 761 Meeting
@ Theatre Retiring Room, Sovereign Hill
Canapés
Chicken Liver Parfait on herb crostini with fig jam
Beetroot cured salmon with fennel ceviche and tomato dressing
Arras Grand Vintage 2004
Entree
Tempura battered king prawns, thai noodle salad, sweet chilli dressing
Kusuda Riesling 2009
Mesh Eden Valley 2003
main course
confit shoulder of lamb, potato, black pudding & carrot mille feuille,
panache of seasonal vegetable, red currant and rosemary jus
Penfolds bin 407 cabernet sauvignon 1996
Lindemans st George cabernet sauvignon 1996
Zema estate family selection cabernet sauvignon 2000
Dessert
Homemade profiteroles with chocolate fudge and fudge sauce
Chateau coutet 2005
CHEF : MARK COOPER
FOOD MASTER : ANDREW BRADLEY
WINE MASTER : DEAN STEVENS
Menu Dinner 760
Dinner 760 Meeting
@ Campana’s
Canapés
Tataki of Wagyu, quail egg yolk, roasted garlic
and mild chilli sauce
Goat cheese tortellini, burnt butter
Chicarron, scallop quenelle, Ross’ candied lime
2004 H Blin & Co Champagne ‘Millesime’
Course 2
Asparagus, beetroots, kingfish, kimchi mayo
2009 Ronco dei Tassi ‘Clic’
2009 Ronco dei Tassi ‘Clic’
2004 Tomboy Hill ‘The Scotsburn’ Chardonnay
Course 3
Rabbit, morels, broad beans
2000 Rosemount Balmoral Syrah
1994 Cantina Di Santadi Carignano de Sulcis
Course 4
Lamb, cauliflower, eggplant, tahini
1998 St Huberts Cabernet Sauvignon
1998 St Huberts Cabernet Sauvignon
1998 Brusset Le Grand Montmirail Gigondas
Dessert
Citrus and pear
2006 Clos Guirouilh moelleux
CHEF : PETER FORD
FOOD MASTER : DEAN STEVENS
FOOD MASTER : DEAN STEVENS
WINE MASTER : ANDREW BRADLEY
Menu Dinner 759
Dinner 759th Meeting
@ Mitchell Harris
Canapés
Chef’s selection
Mitchell Harris Sabre 2011
Entree
Pomegranate glazed quail breasts, sweet corn puree
date, pickled fennel, orange and mixed grain salad with pomegranate dressing
d’Esclans “Whispering Angel” Rose 2010
Willow Creek Chardonnay 2008
Main
Slow cooked lamb canon, saltbush dukkah, beetroot, potato gratin
and seasonal greens
Petaluma Cabernet Merlot 1994
Brancaia TRE 2007
Mitchell Harris Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Dessert
Coconut crusted chocolate delice, salted caramel & Shiraz jelly
Seppelt Grand Muscat DP63
CHEF |
FOOD MASTER |
WINE MASTER |
DIANNE RAY
ANDREW LEWIS
DEAN STEVENS
Menu Dinner 758
Dinner | 758th Meeting
@ Kambei, Main Road
Seikyo Junmai Ginjo Omachi Sake
鮮魚の刺身 Sashimi - tuna, salmon and king fish
海老フライ巻き Ebi-fry maki - crumbed prawn sushi roll with fruit vinegar sauce and mayo
茶わん蒸し Chawanmushi - steamed savoury egg custard soup with dashi stock Giaconda Chardonnay 2010
Domaine Alain Chavy Les Folatieres 2009
イカの天ぷら Ika tempura - squid in tempura butter and sweet potato / green beans Beblenheim Heimberger Alsace Riesling 1997
西京焼き Saikyoyaki - grilled miso marinated black cod with pickled cucumber and sweet dashi egg roll Chateau Prieure - Lichine 1982
和⽜牛ステーキ Wagyu beef steak - Wagyu shoulder beef with shiitake, enoki and truffle mushroom sauce ご飯 Steamed rice
お味噌汁 Miso soup Penfolds 707 1997 Lindeman HRB BIN 6600 1983
デザート Dessert
Homemade green tea and brown sugar pannacotta with black sesame ice cream
Kracher Beerenauslese 2002
CHEF YUTAKA KIMURA
FOOD MASTER ANDREW LEWIS
WINE MASTER DEAN STEVENS
Menu Dinner 757
Menu Dinner 757
Craig's Hotel
18/6/15
President Shaun English
Chef Shannon Easton
Food master Andrew Lewis
Wine master Dean Stevens
Bastille day
Bonjour Bob!
Welcome to the Bastille Day French Festival which will, for the first time in Melbourne, bring together French, Francophile and Australian communities for two days of celebration on 18 and 19 July. A cultural program will bring a taste of all things French to Melbourne, including entertainment, children’s activities as well as a fabulous selection of French food and wine in and around the historic surrounds of the State Library Victoria. Visit the site for the full program www.bastilledaymelbourne.com.au
Highlights include:
French Wine Masterclass: Sunday 19 July // 1pm to 3pm // 4pm to 6pm // Mr Tulk café $70 (70 tickets available)
Hosted by French sommelier and vigneron from Burgundy, Alexandre Rougeot from Clos Cachet, this masterclass will allow you to discover the stories behind different French wines and terroir while tasting five wines from the Champagne, Burgundy, Loire Valley and Provence regions. The wines will be accompanied by a selection of savoury bites.
Hosted by French sommelier and vigneron from Burgundy, Alexandre Rougeot from Clos Cachet, this masterclass will allow you to discover the stories behind different French wines and terroir while tasting five wines from the Champagne, Burgundy, Loire Valley and Provence regions. The wines will be accompanied by a selection of savoury bites.
Champagne Masterclass: Sunday 19 July //11am to 12.30pm// Mr Tulk cafe $65 (35 tickets available)
Hosted by brand representative for the iconic French champagne Pommery, in this masterclass you will learn more about the champagne making process, while tasting four different types of one of the most well-known French traditional champagnes accompanied by a selection of delicious macaroons.
The French lunch: Sunday 19 July // 12pm to 2.30pm // the Moat restaurant & bar Be Frenchy and come enjoy a beautiful home style lunch cooked by a French chef, complemented by cheeses from a French cheese maker and mouth-watering dessert from a French patissier. Learn more about French traditional cuisine while savouring your French Sunday lunch with a glass of wine!
Kind regards,
Nicola
Nicola Savage
Bastille Day Festival Project Manger
French-Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Level 10 / 155 Queen Street | Melbourne VIC 3000 | Australia
Bastille Day Festival Project Manger
French-Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Level 10 / 155 Queen Street | Melbourne VIC 3000 | Australia
T. (+61 3) 9600 0000 | F. (+61 3) 9600 0005
Au revoir terroir? The science of what makes great wines tick.
10 May 2015 by Chris Simms
Magazine issue 3020. Subscribe and save
For similar stories, visit the Food and Drink and Drugs and Alcohol Topic Guides
A vineyard's unique traits makes a wine – but not as expected. From minerals to microbes, we uncover the forces at work behind the world’s favourite tipple
The truth behind the taste?
As people start to get the hang of it, she asks us to shout out the flavours we detect. Everyone
thinks they smell fruit. One woman says eucalyptus. Another tastes flint. Our oenological guide
agrees, telling us that the mineral, flinty characteristic is a distinctive taste of this Chablis. "It comes
from the limestone in the soil of the vineyard," she says.
This story of how the Chablis got its taste is an alluring one – and it's meant to be. For many winemakers, the key to keeping their share of the $200 billion wine market comes down to the idea that local geography, geology, climate and winemaking practices, together known as the terroir, give a unique flavour to their wine. Thus their land is the only place you can make it. This idea forms the basis of wine laws around the world – it's why champagne can come only from the Champagne region of France, for example.
But does the idea of terroir stand up to scrutiny? We have recently unearthed the roles of soil, water, temperature, microorganisms and human practices in a wine's taste, and the emerging picture sends a question bubbling to the surface. If you can discover what gives a great wine its je ne sais quoi, would it be possible to mimic it elsewhere, perhaps even from vines grown in your own garden?
The most common way of thinking about terroir is repeated by wine experts and normal folk alike as they sip their fine burgundy or supermarket plonk. "It is standard in wine descriptions to mention the geological nature of the soils, as though granite, limestone or whatever confers some special ingredient, unknown to science. Most vineyards claim their soils are unique and very special," says Alex Maltman, a geologist at Aberystwyth University, UK.
In recent years, "minerality" has become a buzzword for these supposed mineral-like tastes. But there's no known process by which minerals can make it from the soil to the grape and then into wine in high enough concentrations to be tasted. And even if they could, what would they taste of? "With the odd and fairly irrelevant exceptions like sodium chloride, by and large, minerals have no taste," says Maltman.
"The idea you can taste minerals from the soil is absolute rubbish," says Barry Smith of the University of London's School of Advanced Study, who specialises in the multisensory perception of flavour. But that doesn't render the word minerality meaningless. A drink's feel in the mouth could give you a perception of minerality, he says. Often wines are described as having a taste of wet stone or dry slate. "If you lick a slate, it has no flavour," Smith says, "but it does leave you with a dry feel." Tannins in wine can make your mouth feel dry, so it could be this sensation that sometimes brings slate to mind. You might also be detecting a hint of slate because you were expecting to taste it.
Au revoir, terroir?
So is that the terroir case closed? Not quite: it turns out that if you grow the same grapes in different places, the resulting wines differ chemically. Last year, Régis Gougeon of the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France, and his colleagues used mass spectrometry to look at Pinot Noir grapes and wine from plots just 2 kilometres apart in the Côte de Nuits region of Burgundy. They found that the array of fatty acids, cholesterols, flavonols, phenols and more in the grapes and wine from each vineyard showed distinct differences – a chemical representation of terroir.What's behind this variation? One obvious answer might be the choices of the winegrower.
 |
| Image: Itani/Millennium Images In the dimly lit cellar below a London wine shop, a man gives his glass a good sniff. His nose plunges too deep and, for a moment, resembles an inverted iceberg, bobbing in a Chardonnay sea. Then he snorts, and his laughter destroys the illusion. "That," says the woman leading the tasting, "is not how to nose your wine." |
This story of how the Chablis got its taste is an alluring one – and it's meant to be. For many winemakers, the key to keeping their share of the $200 billion wine market comes down to the idea that local geography, geology, climate and winemaking practices, together known as the terroir, give a unique flavour to their wine. Thus their land is the only place you can make it. This idea forms the basis of wine laws around the world – it's why champagne can come only from the Champagne region of France, for example.
But does the idea of terroir stand up to scrutiny? We have recently unearthed the roles of soil, water, temperature, microorganisms and human practices in a wine's taste, and the emerging picture sends a question bubbling to the surface. If you can discover what gives a great wine its je ne sais quoi, would it be possible to mimic it elsewhere, perhaps even from vines grown in your own garden?
The most common way of thinking about terroir is repeated by wine experts and normal folk alike as they sip their fine burgundy or supermarket plonk. "It is standard in wine descriptions to mention the geological nature of the soils, as though granite, limestone or whatever confers some special ingredient, unknown to science. Most vineyards claim their soils are unique and very special," says Alex Maltman, a geologist at Aberystwyth University, UK.
In recent years, "minerality" has become a buzzword for these supposed mineral-like tastes. But there's no known process by which minerals can make it from the soil to the grape and then into wine in high enough concentrations to be tasted. And even if they could, what would they taste of? "With the odd and fairly irrelevant exceptions like sodium chloride, by and large, minerals have no taste," says Maltman.
"The idea you can taste minerals from the soil is absolute rubbish," says Barry Smith of the University of London's School of Advanced Study, who specialises in the multisensory perception of flavour. But that doesn't render the word minerality meaningless. A drink's feel in the mouth could give you a perception of minerality, he says. Often wines are described as having a taste of wet stone or dry slate. "If you lick a slate, it has no flavour," Smith says, "but it does leave you with a dry feel." Tannins in wine can make your mouth feel dry, so it could be this sensation that sometimes brings slate to mind. You might also be detecting a hint of slate because you were expecting to taste it.
Au revoir, terroir?
So is that the terroir case closed? Not quite: it turns out that if you grow the same grapes in different places, the resulting wines differ chemically. Last year, Régis Gougeon of the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France, and his colleagues used mass spectrometry to look at Pinot Noir grapes and wine from plots just 2 kilometres apart in the Côte de Nuits region of Burgundy. They found that the array of fatty acids, cholesterols, flavonols, phenols and more in the grapes and wine from each vineyard showed distinct differences – a chemical representation of terroir.What's behind this variation? One obvious answer might be the choices of the winegrower.
Everything from the watering and pruning of vines, to choosing when to pick the grapes, which
yeasts to use for fermentation or which barrels to age a wine in will affect the final taste. But
Gougeon's two vineyards were run by the same person, so something else must be behind it.
Hints come from work by Rosa Lamuela-Raventós of the University of Barcelona and her colleagues. Comparing almost identical plots of red Grenache grapes in Spain, they have shown that wines coming from vines grown in richer soil have muted colours, fewer aromatic compounds known as phenols, and seem less likely to improve with age. That might go some way to explaining a belief common among winegrowers: to produce good wine, the vines must suffer.
Other factors also mean we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the concept of terroir. Tiny organisms within the soil and elsewhere can also influence wine. It's well known, for example, that mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with plant roots and help them get nutrients, says Greg Jones of Southern Oregon University in Ashland. And just as you have a microbiome of organisms that are crucial to your health, so too, it seems, does a vine, and these vary from place to place.
"If you grew a plant without any microbes, you wouldn't have any wine," says Jack Gilbert of the Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois. "Bacteria and fungi influence the chemical composition of the grapes and the health of the vine."
Special reserve
The concept of microbial terroir in grapes was revealed in 2013 by Nickolas Bokulich at the University of California, Davis, and his colleagues. The group showed that the freshly pressed juice of the same types of grapes (they looked at Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon) from different regions of California have distinct microbial make-ups – and these change from year to year. Not only that, but each part of a vine hosts a different bacterial and fungal community.
Gilbert and his colleagues have now looked at the RNA of those bacteria for genes that a plant might find useful. They found that bacteria on the grapes, for example, have more genes involved in metabolism and chemical defence – perhaps against hungry insects – both of which could conceivably affect taste. The communities of bacteria living on the leaves, flowers and grapes have more in common with those in the soil than with each other, so Gilbert suspects that the plant is recruiting different microbes from the soil to help with specific jobs. And this reservoir of microbes varies with factors such as the pH of the soil, so it may vary between different plants and rows in a vineyard, let alone between vineyards and regions, says Gilbert.
Those microbes can be very influential. Many sweet wines like Sauternes or Tokaji can be made only once grapes have been attacked by the fungus Botrytis cinerea, also called noble rot. This fungus is also associated with a compound called geosmin that can give wine an earthy or musty flavour, as can some bacteria that live on grapes.
Of all the microorganisms, it is yeasts that probably have the biggest effect on taste. During fermentation, yeast turns the sugar from the grapes into alcohol, giving rise to the 400-plus compounds dictating the taste, smell and mouthfeel of a wine. The "flint" that my fellow wine taster perceived in her Chablis is one example. "If a fermenting wine is starved of oxygen, then the yeasts produce sulphur," says Smith. "Just a bit and you get a smell like a struck match – people think it is flinty."
Many winemakers use starter cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae – brewer's or baker's yeast – for fermentation to ensure a uniform taste. But in recent years, there has been a move towards using the many yeasts naturally present in vineyards to bring out different flavours – a further source of terroir. Some people even swear off pesticides to protect their yeasts. Work by Mathabatha Setati of the Institute for Wine Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University in South Africa and her colleagues shows that there may be something to this. They found more species of yeasts on grapes in vineyards run according to organic principles than in ones that use conventional pesticides and fertilisers.
Some species of yeast are known to contribute very distinct notes to a wine. A pungent, farmyard smell can be down to a yeast called Brettanomyces bruxellensis getting in at almost any point in the winemaking process. Most regard it as spoiling the wine, but some winemakers in Bordeaux and the Rhone consider it part of their wine's distinctive style.
Your own microbes can even play a part in what you taste. The bacteria in the saliva of people with obesity, for example, suppress the release of aroma compounds from wine. You too can be part of terroir.
Looking beyond microbes, climate plays a huge, locally varying part in the taste of wine. Last year, Gougeon and his colleagues showed just how powerful a variable it can be. As well as pinning down a chemical representation of terroir, they looked at how this signature changes from year to year. Interestingly, the collection of compounds in the wines from the two plots they studied were a closer match to each other in any single year than they were to wines from the same plot in a different year. In other words, the weather conditions in a particular year – the vintage – can trump other influences. These differences also increase over time. "The expression of terroir in the wine grows, or changes, in the bottle," says Gougeon.
What is it about the weather that might be so influential? Temperature, rainfall and sunlight are just some of the factors that interplay to affect the health of a plant and the pace at which grapes grow and ripen. By doing this, they alter the proportions of chemical compounds within the grapes, affecting what goes into the fermenting tank and thus what the yeasts will kick out. Broadly speaking, wines from cool climates tend to have a subtle, crisp taste and lower alcohol, while wines from hot climates are heavy and bold with more alcohol.
Hints come from work by Rosa Lamuela-Raventós of the University of Barcelona and her colleagues. Comparing almost identical plots of red Grenache grapes in Spain, they have shown that wines coming from vines grown in richer soil have muted colours, fewer aromatic compounds known as phenols, and seem less likely to improve with age. That might go some way to explaining a belief common among winegrowers: to produce good wine, the vines must suffer.
Other factors also mean we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the concept of terroir. Tiny organisms within the soil and elsewhere can also influence wine. It's well known, for example, that mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with plant roots and help them get nutrients, says Greg Jones of Southern Oregon University in Ashland. And just as you have a microbiome of organisms that are crucial to your health, so too, it seems, does a vine, and these vary from place to place.
"If you grew a plant without any microbes, you wouldn't have any wine," says Jack Gilbert of the Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois. "Bacteria and fungi influence the chemical composition of the grapes and the health of the vine."
Special reserve
The concept of microbial terroir in grapes was revealed in 2013 by Nickolas Bokulich at the University of California, Davis, and his colleagues. The group showed that the freshly pressed juice of the same types of grapes (they looked at Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon) from different regions of California have distinct microbial make-ups – and these change from year to year. Not only that, but each part of a vine hosts a different bacterial and fungal community.
Gilbert and his colleagues have now looked at the RNA of those bacteria for genes that a plant might find useful. They found that bacteria on the grapes, for example, have more genes involved in metabolism and chemical defence – perhaps against hungry insects – both of which could conceivably affect taste. The communities of bacteria living on the leaves, flowers and grapes have more in common with those in the soil than with each other, so Gilbert suspects that the plant is recruiting different microbes from the soil to help with specific jobs. And this reservoir of microbes varies with factors such as the pH of the soil, so it may vary between different plants and rows in a vineyard, let alone between vineyards and regions, says Gilbert.
Those microbes can be very influential. Many sweet wines like Sauternes or Tokaji can be made only once grapes have been attacked by the fungus Botrytis cinerea, also called noble rot. This fungus is also associated with a compound called geosmin that can give wine an earthy or musty flavour, as can some bacteria that live on grapes.
Of all the microorganisms, it is yeasts that probably have the biggest effect on taste. During fermentation, yeast turns the sugar from the grapes into alcohol, giving rise to the 400-plus compounds dictating the taste, smell and mouthfeel of a wine. The "flint" that my fellow wine taster perceived in her Chablis is one example. "If a fermenting wine is starved of oxygen, then the yeasts produce sulphur," says Smith. "Just a bit and you get a smell like a struck match – people think it is flinty."
Many winemakers use starter cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae – brewer's or baker's yeast – for fermentation to ensure a uniform taste. But in recent years, there has been a move towards using the many yeasts naturally present in vineyards to bring out different flavours – a further source of terroir. Some people even swear off pesticides to protect their yeasts. Work by Mathabatha Setati of the Institute for Wine Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University in South Africa and her colleagues shows that there may be something to this. They found more species of yeasts on grapes in vineyards run according to organic principles than in ones that use conventional pesticides and fertilisers.
Some species of yeast are known to contribute very distinct notes to a wine. A pungent, farmyard smell can be down to a yeast called Brettanomyces bruxellensis getting in at almost any point in the winemaking process. Most regard it as spoiling the wine, but some winemakers in Bordeaux and the Rhone consider it part of their wine's distinctive style.
Your own microbes can even play a part in what you taste. The bacteria in the saliva of people with obesity, for example, suppress the release of aroma compounds from wine. You too can be part of terroir.
Looking beyond microbes, climate plays a huge, locally varying part in the taste of wine. Last year, Gougeon and his colleagues showed just how powerful a variable it can be. As well as pinning down a chemical representation of terroir, they looked at how this signature changes from year to year. Interestingly, the collection of compounds in the wines from the two plots they studied were a closer match to each other in any single year than they were to wines from the same plot in a different year. In other words, the weather conditions in a particular year – the vintage – can trump other influences. These differences also increase over time. "The expression of terroir in the wine grows, or changes, in the bottle," says Gougeon.
What is it about the weather that might be so influential? Temperature, rainfall and sunlight are just some of the factors that interplay to affect the health of a plant and the pace at which grapes grow and ripen. By doing this, they alter the proportions of chemical compounds within the grapes, affecting what goes into the fermenting tank and thus what the yeasts will kick out. Broadly speaking, wines from cool climates tend to have a subtle, crisp taste and lower alcohol, while wines from hot climates are heavy and bold with more alcohol.
The climate's influence has many viticulturists uneasy about the future. Wine production typically
happens in areas where the growing season's average temperature is between 12 and 22 °C. Over
the next few decades, climate change will affect temperature and rainfall across much of the world,
conceivably altering which regions are most suitable for growing certain grape varieties. "Can Pinot
Noir perform in warm climates?" asks Jones. "Probably not. It is grown at the limits in Oregon,
Washington, Tasmania and New Zealand. These areas could lose that ability."
Other big names could also be hit. "Champagne is magical because it is cool in the region," says Jones. "Warmer weather would make it more difficult to create that distinctive taste there." Microbes could help, says Gilbert. Finding the right bacterial helpers could increase the resistance of plants to a changing climate. Or growers could swap to grape varieties better suited to the new conditions.
How Merlot can you go?
What we've covered so far can't explain all the interesting flavours in wine, though. It has long been wondered, for example, why some wines have a hint of eucalyptus. In 2013, the Australian Wine Research Institute declared it was down to eucalyptus leaves being picked up with the gathered grapes and releasing the odorous compound eucalyptol when crushed.
And a bitter, herb-like smell and taste, sometimes described as being like green peppers, can be caused by ladybirds – and the methoxypyrazines they release – getting bundled in with the harvest. The taste of smoke can even piggyback into wine when the waxy skins of grapes catch particles from the smoke of forest fires, says Jones.
But back to the big question. Now that we can separate out some of the taste influences in a wine, could we copy a 1998 Château Margaux, with its notes of berries, smoke, green pepper and earthiness? Do you just need Cabernet Sauvignon vines, some not-too-warm weather, a nearby fire, a handful of ladybirds and a sprinkling of fungus?
Rivalling great wines can certainly be done, says Maltman, as is shown by the success of many New World wines. But to mimic one exactly, you would have to know all the variables – and some might be hard to identify. "Lots of wine companies are interested in protecting their own flavours," Gilbert says. "If you uncover the secret that makes their microbiome and wine so awesome, maybe they're not going to be very happy."
It's hard to argue that replicating your favourite Bordeaux would be easy. But there's enough information out there to give it a good go, and all winemakers have to start somewhere. Perhaps it's time to look for a patch of ground and do some experimenting. And then... que Syrah Syrah.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Grape expectations"
Read more: "5 weird tastes that can sneak into your wine"
Other big names could also be hit. "Champagne is magical because it is cool in the region," says Jones. "Warmer weather would make it more difficult to create that distinctive taste there." Microbes could help, says Gilbert. Finding the right bacterial helpers could increase the resistance of plants to a changing climate. Or growers could swap to grape varieties better suited to the new conditions.
How Merlot can you go?
What we've covered so far can't explain all the interesting flavours in wine, though. It has long been wondered, for example, why some wines have a hint of eucalyptus. In 2013, the Australian Wine Research Institute declared it was down to eucalyptus leaves being picked up with the gathered grapes and releasing the odorous compound eucalyptol when crushed.
And a bitter, herb-like smell and taste, sometimes described as being like green peppers, can be caused by ladybirds – and the methoxypyrazines they release – getting bundled in with the harvest. The taste of smoke can even piggyback into wine when the waxy skins of grapes catch particles from the smoke of forest fires, says Jones.
But back to the big question. Now that we can separate out some of the taste influences in a wine, could we copy a 1998 Château Margaux, with its notes of berries, smoke, green pepper and earthiness? Do you just need Cabernet Sauvignon vines, some not-too-warm weather, a nearby fire, a handful of ladybirds and a sprinkling of fungus?
Rivalling great wines can certainly be done, says Maltman, as is shown by the success of many New World wines. But to mimic one exactly, you would have to know all the variables – and some might be hard to identify. "Lots of wine companies are interested in protecting their own flavours," Gilbert says. "If you uncover the secret that makes their microbiome and wine so awesome, maybe they're not going to be very happy."
It's hard to argue that replicating your favourite Bordeaux would be easy. But there's enough information out there to give it a good go, and all winemakers have to start somewhere. Perhaps it's time to look for a patch of ground and do some experimenting. And then... que Syrah Syrah.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Grape expectations"
Read more: "5 weird tastes that can sneak into your wine"
The weird things in your wine
 |
| Image: Jean-Luc Chapin/Agence VU/Camera Press |
Some of the tastes in what you sip can come from unusual sources
Ladybirds
Taste/scent: Green peppers, bitter herbs
Ladybirds
Taste/scent: Green peppers, bitter herbs
Insects are accidentally crushed with the grapes, releasing methoxypyrazines. In 2001,
this caused Canadian winemakers to dump 1 million litres of wine
Eucalyptus
Taste/scent: Eucalyptus, spicy and cooling Cause: Eucalyptol
If eucalyptus leaves get in with the grapes, they release eucalyptol when crushed. Some 40 per cent of Australian red wines contain detectable eucalyptol
Noble rot
Taste/scent: Intense sweetness, honey, apricots Cause: Botrytis cinerea
This fungus dries out the grapes, making them sweeter. Tokaji wine from Hungary, for example, gets its sweetness this way
Brett yeast
Taste/scent: Rancid barnyard smell Cause: Brettanomyces bruxellensis
This yeast can strike at any stage of the winemaking process. Some wineries, such as Château Musar in Lebanon, embrace its qualities
Smoke
Taste/scent: Smoke, wet ashtray Cause: Guaiacol
Waxy skins of grapes catch smoke particles, which contain guaiacol. After forest fires in 2008, much of the Pinot Noir from California's Anderson Valley tasted smoky
Harvesting damage
Taste/scent: Cat urine, boxwood, grapefruit, passion fruit Cause: Thiols
Some of the signature tastes of Sauvignon Blanc are accentuated in Marlborough in New Zealand. Higher levels of thiols in grape juice seem to be linked to mechanical harvesting there
this caused Canadian winemakers to dump 1 million litres of wine
Eucalyptus
Taste/scent: Eucalyptus, spicy and cooling Cause: Eucalyptol
If eucalyptus leaves get in with the grapes, they release eucalyptol when crushed. Some 40 per cent of Australian red wines contain detectable eucalyptol
Noble rot
Taste/scent: Intense sweetness, honey, apricots Cause: Botrytis cinerea
This fungus dries out the grapes, making them sweeter. Tokaji wine from Hungary, for example, gets its sweetness this way
Brett yeast
Taste/scent: Rancid barnyard smell Cause: Brettanomyces bruxellensis
This yeast can strike at any stage of the winemaking process. Some wineries, such as Château Musar in Lebanon, embrace its qualities
Smoke
Taste/scent: Smoke, wet ashtray Cause: Guaiacol
Waxy skins of grapes catch smoke particles, which contain guaiacol. After forest fires in 2008, much of the Pinot Noir from California's Anderson Valley tasted smoky
Harvesting damage
Taste/scent: Cat urine, boxwood, grapefruit, passion fruit Cause: Thiols
Some of the signature tastes of Sauvignon Blanc are accentuated in Marlborough in New Zealand. Higher levels of thiols in grape juice seem to be linked to mechanical harvesting there
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