Chris Kissack

Band-aid (sticking plaster is what I called it) is the aroma of 4-vinyl phenol, the product of enzymic decarboxylation by yeast. As such it is likely that it may reflect the presence of Brett although it is not unique to Brett, I think. That's a brilliant description of how some of these wines come across on the palate. I often find myself thinking of iron, nails, ink, but your description gets much closer to the sensation on the palate. It depends on the wine and your outlook on life. In reds I figure it's pretty hard to swallow (pun intended). In whites the wines can still be drinkable, and as it reflects the desire of the winemaker to use less sulphur and therefore a more natural end-product I might be prepared to live with it and drink the wine, much more than other faults such as corked or cooked wine. It depends on how the wine tastes, even if it's not how the winemaker intended it to taste. BWs Chris Kissack

Brett and fermentation in the bottles are two completely different things. Brett is a description of odours/flavours caused by Brett yeast and is not the same as fermentation in the bottle. BWs Chris Kissack

Carema Thanks for posting this. There's obviously a lot of history behind those few paragraphs. I hope you have many more good bottles, over good dinners, as a family. The dinner table is such a good place to talk. BWs Chris Kissack

There are plenty of suggested answers in this thread, but I'm fairly sure Andre has it right. This is a sign of a small amount of residual carbon dioxide, a product of the fermentation, which was still dissolved in the wine at the time of bottling. Many German wines demonstrate this, but particularly those from good quality producers that bottle early to maintain fruit and freshness. The presence of a little bit of dissolved CO2 is a pleasant side effect of this practice. I first encountered it in a bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc but that is fairly unusual - but in German QbA's or Kabinetts from good producers it is more common. Just to dispel some of the other suggested explanations: Brett is a yeast (single celled fungus) not a bacterium. It would not be expected to produce refermentation, and is not actively used in winemaking. Many wines display Brett characters - animal odours, farmyards, sewage, cheese, metallic notes, sticking plaster - and some may regard these as faults, some may enjoy them, it depends on the amount of Brett and on the taster. The Brett yeast originates in the vineyard or may be contaminating the winery structure or equipment. I could go on a lot more, as Brett can be a fairly controversial topic and it has been the subject of much debateon the 'net already! I don't quite understand how refermentation in the bottle - a recognised problem if a producer under-sulphurs because of a desire for a more 'natural' product - can be reverting malolactic fermentation. I'm not even sure the malo generates gas - and if malo can be commonly reversed - if there are any winemakers out there who could enlighten me I'd like to see their explanation of this. BWs Chris Kissack

I have a number of Roussillon wines stacked up waiting for tasting, but I won't be tasting them until I've worked my way through the better producers of the Languedoc. But for your information, the producers I selected included the following: Cotes du Roussillon and similar wines (as you are travelling to the region I have included the nearest village/town in brackets): Gauby (Calce) Domaine Casenove (Trouillas) Domaine Sarda Malet (Perpignan) Domaine Vaquer (Tresserre) - don't be put off by the fact that many of these wines are vin de pays and even vin de table - this is a fine producer who simply chooses to work outside the AOC regulations. Maury: Mas Amiel Banyuls & Collioure: Domaine du Mas Blanc Domaine la Rectorie Enjoy your trip Chris Kissack

Very true. After tasting my first few bottles of Nebbiolo I came to think of it as turbo-charged Pinot Noir. There are similarities in appearance and also its textural qualities in the mouth. The big difference, of course, is the tannin. This can dominate young Nebbiolo, whereas much Pinot Noir is very approachable young. BWs Chris

A wine to go with Elk? The choice is obvious: Chateau Moose-ar. BWs Chris

Moby Thanks for this round-up of UK wine press news. I find the collection of links very convenient - I hope you can find the time to do this again. BWs Chris Kissack

Craig is absolutely spot on. I did wonder a year or two ago whether or not the 1995s might be coming round, but it was an incorrect assumption based on the tatsing of some minor clarets. In the past year I've tasted a number of classed growth 95s and found little pleasure in any of them at the moment. They taste muddy and confused (sorry to use these vague terms but that really is how the wines come across). I would certainly let the two bottles you mention rest for a while yet - several years at the minimum. I don't think 1995 was the vintage of the decade - at the time this was hype mixed with blessed relief for the Bordeaux vignerons who had just been through two rotten vintages, one poor vintage and one questionable vintage (all sweeping generalisations - there are of course a number of decent wines to be found from 1991-1994). I like 1996 for the northern left bank, and 1998 is also good on the left bank but seems to be 'the forgotten vintage' - overshadowed by the great success on the right bank that year. 1999 OK. 1997 buy with extreme caution. BWs Chris Kissack

LOS It's good to read your impressions of 2002 in the north, thanks for posting them. With the floods in the southern Rhone I was pretty certain that the vintage there would be wrecked. But I also had a feeling that the north would be a similar story. reading between the lines of what en primeur offers I've had (not many!) I began to think I was right. Your post confirms it. With plenty on offer over the past few vintages; 2001 & 1998 in the south (2000 and 1999 also good) and 1999 in the north I think this is a vintage where I will make no purchases at all. My expereinceof 2001 in the north is that this is a lesser, fruity vintage. One where you have to try before you buy I think. BWs Chris

Now, Scott, just because you don't have the necessary sophistication of palate to enjoy Musar, don't take it out on me. Or should that be "because you don't like wine stuffed with volatile acidity to the point where the nose resembles a blend of polystyrene cement and nail-polish remover..." I was actually a little peeved at finding this wine corked as I was really looking forward to it following the 95, 96 and 97. But I quickly cheered when I imagined the fun I might have sending it back in a restaurant: "This wine is corked". Response "No sir, Musar always smells like that". Which reminded me of a local restaurant I visited a couple of years ago. I spotted the current vintage of Musar on the list - the 95 I think - and ordered a bottle. The waiter returned to explain they had no Musar: "There was a problem with it - we opened several and they were all the same - we had to send them all back". I chuckled the rest of the evening as I imagined a restaurateur with little wine knowledge smelling bottle after bottle of very typical Musar, with its prominent volatile acidity, and commenting "yeuch" each time. I ended up drinking some Chilean Syrah. So going Musar-less isn't always a good thing! BWs Chris

Winot I would agree with Craig - I think you wine was probably corked. The lack of fruit and unpleasant palate (I have sometimes found corked wines to be bitter or sharp tasting) would suggest this even if the contamination is not sufficient to produce a corked aroma. It's these bottles that are the most difficult to call. BWs Chris

Wouldn't you know it - the 94 Musar was corked. The other bottles of the 94 are well buried in the cellar, so I went Musar-less. Never mind, I opened a Pic St Loup from Chateau de Cazeneuve. This subregion of the Coteaux du Languedoc is sure to be the next to achieve appellation status. I had the Roc des Mates cuvee, which is mostly Syrah with a dash of Grenache and Mourvedre - although you would think there was more of the latter judging by the meaty, farmyardy nose. It was, in fact, lovely. Can't wait to finish the bottle tonight. BWs Chris

LOS I haven't had Musar 91 since a ten-year-on tasting - so that was just over two years ago now. It is one of the better Musars of recent years, in fact probably the best of the 1990s. I though it was drinking beautifully at that time although I think Serge Hochar says it is best drunk from 15 years of age onwards. If I had a case coming my way I would definitely open one ASAP - I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off it! BWs Chris

Two nights ago Musar 96 - one of the lighter Musars of recent years. Last night Musar 95 - absolutely classic Musar, and therefore for Musar lovers only - great nose domminated by volatile acidity at first (polystyrene cement and acetone aromas) but then more sweet and leathery. Tonight - nothing I'm working. Tomorrow night - Musar 94 - the richest Musar of recent years, and quite atypical. I'm looking forward to trying it again. I buy Musar either from The Wine Society or Majestic, depending on various circumstances. Price usually £11-12 for current vintage (the 97, which I drank last week). I like drinking different cuvees/vintages/vineyards from the same producer in a run like this. Very educational for the palate I find. Helps to crystallise my opinions of the individual wines as well. BWs Chris Kissack

Moby I've pasted the following regarding corked wine from my site: How to spot one: As with cooked wines, corkiness may appear in a spectrum from barely noticeable to very obvious. A subtly corked wine may appear fruitless, a little unbalanced, uninteresting, but without any definite signs of cork taint. Leaving the wine for a few hours, or even days, may make the unpleasant aromas characteristic of a corked wine more apparent. By this time, however, it's likely you've either drunk it or poured it down the sink. More obviously corked wine has aromas of wet cardboard, mushrooms, mould and smelly socks! The palate (if you get that far) will taste similar, will lack fruit, and is often quite bitter. BWs Chris

This sort of thing happened to me last year, although I was dining with some family members so there was no problem with speaking up. When the wine came the red was poured on the other side of the table, which was a mistake - I should have made sure all the wines came to me first - but I had slipped into a relaxed frame of mind and unfortunately slipped up. When the bottle worked its way round - by which point I think we were tucking into starters - it was certainly not right. And with a little more air it was obviously corked. I felt rotten because people were well into the meal, and some were already drinking the red and proclaiming it as very good. All this could have been avoided by me checking the wine first. (NB: The problem was compounded by the second bottle (of the same wine) - which was also corked. Obviously a bad batch of corks!) I guess at a business dinner your action would depend on how you related with the host and other diners. Is upsetting your host likely to spoil a potential deal - if so I would keep quiet. Also, if embarrassment is likely to be the result, again I would keep quiet. Sometimes the education of someone else's palate is not a priority. BUt if these are people that you know well then it could easily be turned into an interetsing topic of discussion where everybody learns something, and the outcome is that you get something decent to drink! BWs Chris

Thank you Craig. I don't feel this way at all. I think there is too much focus on where the first growths and super-seconds sit pricewise. These are very high prices which tend to overshadow the dozens of good value (IMHO of course - 'value' is a very subjective thing) wines. Even some second growths such as Gruaud, Leoville Poyferre and Leoville Barton can be picked up at prices I find acceptable. But there are also a good number of other classed growth properties which cost half as much again. Looking further afield, you can find lovely wines from the Cru Bourgeois properties, from a select group of St Emilion Grand Crus, from Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac, even from Cotes de Castillon. Many of these stand up very well (my personal opinion is that they wine hands down - but this reflects my personal preference for the Bordeaux, particularly Graves/Margaux/St Julien, Style) against New World Bordeaux-style wines on a quality and value comparison. BWs Chris

A good point - it is important to distinguish the two. This can be difficult, because I have seen lists from merchants - who should know enough to be more precise - that don't make clear just which Leflaive business we are talking about. Having said that, of the small negociants Olivier Leflaive is extremely good, and produces a range of wines which offer very good value. I'm tasting my way through a bunch at the moment. This is digression from the topic at hand though. Getting back to the original post - buying 2002's in the UK - I must admit that as usual I won't be buying much. It is a personal preference of mine to buy smaller quantities later, rather than six-packs or cases now. Wines can frequently be picked up in the sales, even from very good vintages such as 2002. I recently purchased some 1999s from Mugneret-Gibourg, Simon Bize and Robert Chevillon at nicely reduced prices. But it's just a persoanl preference. BWs Chris Kissack

I think with the 1997 vintage the high prices are what the merchant would really like and the low prices are those who are facing up to reality - or have their backs a little closer to the wall. I would suspect, however, that even at the low prices merchants would have some difficult shifting this stock. The vintage has received a lot of bad press, and I would agree with many of the negative comments that I have seen in print. My own experience of the vintage is that although there are some wines which provide "attractive early drinking" - like Poujeaux (the only wine I bought for my own consumption, and which has already passed from it's fragrant, perfumed youth through a closed phase into obvious maturity) and Pichon-Baron (which I tasted recently in a vertical tasting) there are also many that, on my assessment, were green, dirty, disjointed and some over-extracted, including big names such as Clinet, LMHB and Lynch-Bages. If tempted by cheap 97s I would strongly urge "try before you buy" if possible or at least find some trustworthy independent recommendations. BWs Chris Kissack

The Methode Champenoise involves adding a solution of sugar and yeast, known as the "liqueur de tirage" to the still wine for the second fermentation. So the wine gets fresh yeast, plus a dose of sugar-food. Later on, after degorgement, the wine is topped up with a bit of wine plus sugar (amount depending on the style of Champagne). This solution is known as "dosage". BWs Chris Kissack