Brett-less - BIG NEWS!

[Roy Hersh]

http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/ ... -gene-code

Major ramifications in a good way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Moses Botbol]

Aussies should spend more time on making good wine instead.

[Eric Menchen]

Sulfites kill all yeast, and are but one of many tools. I don't know, but I think they got a little bit carried away about this "enemy." Good sanitation, barrel management, etc. is key to controlling it. I haven't heard anyone suggest that brett might evolve to become sulfite tolerant, but maybe that's because I'm in the camp more interested in using it, not fighting it. Of course it depends on the product whether it is appropriate or not. Oh, and of course there are different strains and species of brett, and some debate about this. My Friek used two different strains, I think bruxellensis and lambicus.

rett ... can spoil wine with medicinal or metallic characters, the AWRI said.

Ummm, maybe this is part of the problem. Brett can produce a lot of different flavors which may come off as offensive, but medicinal and metallic are not two of them. Yeast in general (not just Brett) can produce phenols that might be characterized as medicinal, but better characterized as phenolic or clove-like. Fermentation temperature and stress on the yeast might cause these. What I consider to be really medicinal is the Band-Aid flavor that comes from chlorine and chloramines mixing with organic compounds, phenols and others. Metallic? That most commonly comes from, wait for it, ... metals! In a brewery or winery there are plenty of ways for metals to get into the product. I've heard that hydrolysis of lipids can produce a metallic taste. Guess I should read this paper, "Investigating the role of Brettanomyces and Dekkera during winemaking." Looks interesting.

[Roy Hersh]

I don't know about you, but Brett to me, manifests itself not only in aromatics but flavors. I think of 1990 Chat. Montrose (RP 100 point wine) which to me is Brett-y about 9 out of 10 times, same as the 1989/1990 Beaucastel from CdP. Both are phenomenal wines but are afflicted by Brett. In low levels it can enhance the wine. But bad examples are numerous and when that happens in higher levels, the nose of poopy diapers and cow manure at worst and barnyard stables at best ... can be really offensive in large doses.

[Moses Botbol]

I associate Brett with a barnyard taste, not metallic.