pinotblogger

Hi Sean, Brett is shorthand for a yeast called Brettanomyces that sometimes form colonies in wine after primary fermentation is complete. Brett creates a couple of compounds that smell either horsey or barnyard, and sometimes medicinal. Some call it a fault, others say it adds complexity. It depends on the concentration in the wine. Brett is most common in red wines that are made with a more "hands off" approach where less SO2 is used as a preservative. The reason that red wines are affected more readily than whites is because SO2 is more effective in wines of higher acidity (i.e. lower pH, note that this doesn't necessarily mean "tart"). Red wines are typically less acidic (higher pH) than whites, so you get more brett. Jamie Goode has a very nice article on brett over at his site that goes into quite a bit of detail: http://www.wineanorak.com/brettanomyces.htm Hope this helps, Josh

Having finally gotten past the application process to be able to add to the discussion, I offer the following. It is very interesting to see those bemoaning the “dumbing down” and “lowering of the bar” by uninformed amateurs that has occurred since the advent of wine blogging who at the same time demonstrate that they themselves are woefully misinformed about blogs in general and bloggers in particular. Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot. As one example: It is not the Wark Communications website (basically an online brochure) that has made Tom Wark one of the most well known names in online wine writing, it is the daily posts on his blog. Through his blog he has gotten paid writing gigs and is now widely quoted in trade magazines (Wine Business Monthly quoted him in two separate articles on various wine related topics in the current issue). Eventually this has to trickle down to his PR business. This success was not due to simply throwing a conventional site up on the web and waiting. Conventional, static websites are about as compelling as watching the grass grow. It took time, dedication and effort. It took blogging. I beg to differ (on the ideology count, he is indeed thoughtful), and so does Joe Dressner who won’t even set foot in a room that Tom Wark is in. Tom has a definite take on the French wine industry, the three tier system, terroir and spoof. There is an ideology to his posts because he is human and his blog allows this to show through. Sometimes he posts about his personal life. It makes his writing compelling and authentic. I discount people who say they are completely objective. Just give me your unadulterated worldview and let me draw my conclusions from there. Also, let me give you a bit of perspective from someone in the wine industry. Blogs are more than just a vehicle to share thoughts and opinions; they are also a way to connect with potential customers and to tell a story. Blogs are more personal and focused than a message board, and they still allow for the same level of interaction via comments. Further, blogs have more “Google Juice” than static sites and message boards, which makes being found and read much easier. One final example and I’ll sign off. Yesterday I posted about a new company called TurnHere that offers filmmaking services to business wanting to market themselves via online video. I was critical of one of their productions, and said it was cheesy and an example of poor storytelling, but that I thought that the overall concept was good. Three hours after my post the Senior VP of Sales contacted me, thanked me for mentioning the company, and said he took my comments as a challenge and that he’d love to help us tell our story. That, in short, is the power of blogs. Voices are heard, and beneficial conversations are started from both the consumer and the business perspective. Josh Edited for spelling