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Great Grape News |
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 "What starts fruity but finishes dry and is the perfect wine for anyone just getting started in wine?" It's a White Merlot. White Merlot - a new star on the horizon? Two years ago, the only White Merlot available was an expensive version from the Swiss firm Guido Brivio. Today there are more than a dozen highly accessible White Merlots from California. These are not freak wines from small unknown foreign producers. They are made by some of the world's major companies, none of which is spending money on wines that are not salable. White Merlot is a "blush" wine, but it is distinctively different and it is more refined than a White Zinfandel. If you enjoy a light, fruity and slightly sweet wine, this one is for you. Since it is drier than a White Zin it goes well with food. The White Merlot has a lively berry flavor and plenty of acidity which makes them a good match with almost any kind of food with spicy and Asian cuisine. What's wrong with this wine?
It is not uncommon to find something seriously wrong with one in 25. In some instances it can be as high as one in 12. The good news is that most retailers will "cheerfully" exchange the product, unless prohibited by state law (Maryland does not have such law). The bad news for wine buyers is that some wine faults are very hard to predict. Even bottles from the best, most careful producers can sometimes be faulty. Product faults are taken very serious by producers and most do all they can to eliminate any chance of it from their wines. Corkiness - No, it doesn't mean the wine is bad because there are bits of cork floating in your wine. (You can fish those out with your finger.) Corkiness is the moldy taint imparted to wine by some corks which have been treated (as part of the normal production process) with chlorine, and which then, in warm, moist conditions, allow the formation of a chemical called Trichloranisole, or TCA. The cure? There isn't one. But it can be prevented by not using chlorine-treated corks, and many producers are starting to do this. Others are experimenting with synthetic corks. While it appears that they are very consistent and almost eliminate bad corks, long term exposure to the synthetic cork are unknown. A few premium wine producers have even converted from cork to screw caps. Diluted (watery) - Wine that tastes weak and watery is said to taste dilute. It means the grower has allowed the yields from his vineyards to grow unacceptably high, or that it rained just before or during the harvest, so that the grapes were literally diluted with rainwater. A prime example of this happening was 1998 in Virginia and Maryland. Vine growers forecasted the greatest harvest in dozens of years a week prior to harvest time. Sure enough, a continuos rain over several days diluted the grapes resulting in anything but a great grape quality. Green ( too much acidity)
The grapes may have been grown in a place to cool for their particular variety (red wine grapes in parts of Germany, Tasmania, New Zealand, Northern France and England for example). They may have been picked in a normally warmer region after a season when the climate has failed to ripen them properly (Bordeaux in the 1990s). Or in a place where wine growers willfully harvest prematurely (South Africa every year). A green-tasting wine may become more pleasant with time, but it stands no more chance of developing ripe flavors than short adults have of becoming tall. Rotten Eggs - Rotten eggs is the giveaway smell here. Hydrogen sulfide can be produced during fermentation, but it is perfectly curable before bottling and should not be found in bottled wine. If you're unlucky, aerating the wine might help. Maderization - This is not the same as oxidation, though it's not uncommon to hear the two terms being used interchangeably. Maderization certainly involves oxidation, but it also implies that the wine has been allowed to get too warm and has acquired a cooked, toffee-type flavor. It will also have turned brownish. Madeira, of course, is supposed to be maderized; the wine has given its name to the process. Rancio vins doux naturels are also deliberately maderized. In almost all other wines it's a fault. Corked - The number one reason why consumers return wine to their retailers. A bottle of wine whose cork has deteriorated over a period of time. |
Air enters the bottle and the wine, exposed
to air becomes "bad", corked. It's just a matter of time before the wine
becomes vinegar.
Deterioration can be invisible to the eye. The cork may have dried out and only slightly lost it elasticity, just enough to shrink enough for air to be able to entered the bottle. Prevention is relatively easy. Store the bottle on its side to ensure that it remains wet and in a climate that prevents the drying of the cork from the outside. Mustiness - Often confused with Corkiness, this can also come from storing the wine in musty old casks - though just one musty stave can contaminate a batch of wine. Oakiness - The popularity of new oak barrels among winemakers internationally, but in particular California, has led to what some might call oak-abuse. Since the rich vanilla flavor is so fashionable among consumers, the logic goes, and since one can charge more for a wine that tastes of oak, why not use more of it? The trouble is that not all wines are suited to new-oak aging. Many delicate, subtle wines can be completely swamped by new oak; and even reds, if they are insufficiently rich or concentrated, can be overpowered by the too-generous use of new oak. If the wine is fully mature, and all you can taste is oak, it's over-oaked. Oxidation - Instead of tasting fresh and fruity, oxidized wine tastes stale and flat. It's caused by too much exposure to the air, and it can happen at any stage, from the crushing of the grapes in the winery to the leaving of a wine too long in a decanter on one's dining table. However, in some products oxidation is a desired process. Sherry and
tawny port are deliberated oxidized as part of the production process,
for example.
Sulfur dioxide - This is the winemaker's all-purpose disinfectant and anti-oxidant, and it is common to add some to bottled wine to prevent oxidation and (in the case of sweet wines) further fermentation in the bottle. Sulfur is also found as a natural "ingredient" in grapes. It has a smell like that of a struck match, and can make one sneeze or one's throat itch; high doses can be bad for asthmatics. As wine ages over several years inside the bottle Sulfur Dioxide becomes less detectable. Volatile Acidity - All wines have some volatile acids, the most common of which is acetic acid. Too much and the wine could be on the way to becoming vinegar. Only if the wine has a vinegary taint is it a fault. Alcoholic - The alcohol level in wine can range from 5-15%. But a wine with a high level of alcohol needs lots of rich, ripe fruit and probably a fair bit of tannin to balance, otherwise it will taste top-heavy.
A cork tree is first stripped of its outer bark once the tree is about 25 years old. The usually live for over a 150 years and are stripped about every nine years. After drying in the open long strips are boiled then dried again and shaped. They are then bleached for appearance and sanitary reasons. To fit them easier into the bottle neck, corks are usually coated with wax or other lubricants. Corks are usually a little shorter for wines that are intended to be consumed soon and may be made from cork dust and/or particles of cork. Although cork cells are tightly packed, even when stored correctly, the cork may harbor some molds and allow air to enter. Warmer temperatures cause an expansion of both the wine and the air in a bottle. The cork resists some pressure of slight variations in temperature but usually cannot resist the increased pressure. This may cause the cork to be pushed out of the bottle neck, however slightly. As the temperature becomes lower the cork may contract and air may be drawn into the bottle. Oxygen accelerates the maturation of the wine. If too much air gets in the the ullage space (the space between the wine and the bottom of the cork) there is also the danger that the alcohol could be converted to acetic acid by the acetobacter bacteria, turning the wine into vinegar. Debate continues over the use of corks. Some wineries are experimenting with synthetic corks. One premium wine producer (Plum Jack) recently decided to use screw tops on half of their Cabernet Sauvignon production. Wine and Food Pairing Link
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