Another wine down the drain

A bad bottle of wine can still be a good experience. There’s a lot to learn from a wine that’s either gone bad or just doesn’t suit your taste buds. We had just such an experience a few nights ago.

Some friends opened a bottle of an Italian wine that had been imported by a favorite California winery. This is to say, we didn’t know the wine but we trusted its source. It was a red varietal we hadn’t heard of. Nevertheless, it had a smell and a taste that your Two Wine Nuts were familiar with.

The wine’s most distinctive scent was of Band-Aids. Yep, that plasticy, chemically, antiseptic smell. One Wine Nut also picked up some Magic Marker in the aroma. And there was Band-Aid in the taste, too. After a few sips and commiseration, the group deemed the wine undrinkable and we moved onto another bottle.

So what does that Band-Aid taste and smell mean? Band-Aids is a tell-tale sign of a very specific yeast hanging out in a wine. It indicates the presence of a yeast called brettanomyces [breht-tan-uh-MI-sees] – or “brett” for short. Brettanomyces is a yeast that grows naturally on grapes and in wineries. For the most part, wine makers try to avoid allowing brett into their wine. However, there is some debate among winos as to whether or not a brett-flavored wine is a good thing or a bad thing. A little brettanomyces in a wine can add some complexity and earthiness, especially in a red wine. However, too much brett and you start wondering who has the boo-boo and just opened the Band-Aids box.

For lots of microbiological info, click here. For a high-brow debate of the usefulness of brettanomyces, click here.

A good Cabernet for cooking

We needed a basic Cabernet Sauvignon for our favorite tri-tip marinade recipe so we went to our local Albertsons to see what we could find. We picked up a 2004 Chalone Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon on sale for $12.99 (regularly priced at $18.99). We had had good experiences with this pioneer Monterey County (California) winery in the past so we figured we had a safe bet. And the verdict? Eh. As a drinking wine, it’s great for a marinade.

This Cab was a deep rich purpley red, as we expected. Its smell, however, was not very pronounced. Aside from a wine smell, the only scent either Wine Nut could pick up was “dusty.” Having just taken the wine glasses out of the dishwasher, we know the glasses weren’t the dusty culprits.

Taste-wise, this California Cabernet started off nice and fruity but quickly disappeared. Because the flavor did not linger after the wine was swallowed, we would describe this wine as having a “short finish.” By contrast, a wine with a long finish – a very good thing – is one where even after the wine has slid down your throat, you can still taste various flavors and can continue enjoying the wine well before your next sip.

One Wine Nut also declared this pick to be over-oaked. He determined this by the astringent, dry feeling in the mouth and the wooden taste. Cabernets are very typically aged in oak barrels for some length of time in order to impart some of that oak – and often vanilla – flavor into the wine. A wine can get too oaky either by spending too much time in an oak barrel or by hanging out in a newer barrel. Some people like a lot of oak flavor in their wines (California Chardonnays are famous for this); your two Wine Nuts, not so much.

Overall, this Cabernet Sauvignon served its ingredient purpose well but it wouldn’t be our choice for a drinking wine. However, on a recent trip we picked up a bottle of a Chalone Vineyard Merlot at a grocery store. We shared it with some family while chatting in a hotel room and it was quite tasty, even when served in Styrofoam coffee cups. So if you want to try this old-standby Monterey County wine, go for the Merlot and skip the Cabernet…unless you’re marinating tri-tip. And $10-13 for either makes it worthwhile.