Cork taint — corked wines
Nothing to do with bits of cork floating in the wine, but a random taint that develops in the cork itself, following the sterilisation process, creating a pungent compound called 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). This leads to aromas and flavours of wet cardboard, old books and blocked drains and while harmless, this is not pleasurable to drink. At very low levels it can "flatten" a wine, diminishing the range of aromas and flavours.
Premature oxidation — premox/poxed
Cut an apple in half and leave it on the bench; that browning is oxidation. Seems more prevalent in white wines, a bottle that is ageing more quickly than anticipated, showing a darker than expected colour and notes of bruised apple or sherry.
Brettanomyces — Brett
The arrival of Brett doesn’t mean a mate of your brother’s popping round; this is a slightly controversial yeast spoilage agent. Controversial because at low levels some strains can add leathery, smoky, slightly funky notes to a wine, that can be seen as adding complexity. Also, the many brett influenced beers on the market regard the characters as an intrinsic part of the beer. More extreme examples in wine see band-aid characters, or horse sweat/sweaty saddle notes, which are not desirable.
Volatile acidity — VA
Like brett, at low levels this can be part of the complexity and it is commonplace in wines like sauternes, port and amarone. The two major compounds involved are acetic acid (vinegar) and ethyl acetate (nail polish remover or paint thinner) and at high levels can lend sharpness and sourness to the wine.
Mousiness — mouse taint
A bacterial taint that you taste, rather than smell, as it reacts with the saliva in your mouth. Pops up in some natural wines with zero sulphur addition. Flat lager or curdled milk and old hamster cage are terrifyingly evocative descriptors.
Cooked wine
Where wines have been exposed to significant heat during shipping and/or storage. An oozing cork would be a giveaway, the wine can be flat and lifeless with marked astringency and little or no finish. Hard to decisively spot.
Cloudiness
Not a fault though in the past might be regarded as such, as pristinely clear wine was the accepted rule. With more wineries choosing to eschew fining and filtration (the clarification processes), and natural or lo-fi winemakers seeking to reduce any intervention in the winemaking, a degree of cloudiness may be an intrinsic part of the wine. Pet-Nats with their yeast lees in the bottle a clear example.
Sediment
Again, not at all a fault, as this is the natural elements in the wine coalescing over time as sediment. Someone came up with term "wine diamonds" for tartrates, which can be very visible in whites, forming as crystals, fine sand or even what can appear to be shards of glass but are entirely harmless. In reds, tartrates, tannins and anthocyanins can precipitate out and is often why people choose to decant the wine, leaving the sediment behind.
- The three wines below are clean, bright and fault free!
2020 Pegasus Bay North Canterbury Merlot Cabernet
Rating Very Good to Excellent
Something a little dark
and mysterious about
this, dusty, earthy, plum
and berryfruit
swelling, crushed
leaf. The palate
follows the nose,
good flavour depth
and concentration,
the tannin structure
evident with a lick of
acidity adding
freshness. Becomes
more chewy with
time adding a stalky,
bittersweet element
to the close.
2021 Craggy Range Te Kahu S.V Gimblett Gravels Vineyard
Rating Excellent to Outstanding
Brightness, a sense of
coolness, anise, eucalypt,
lead pencil, dustiness,
tobacco, leaf nuances,
dark fruits. Tautness to
this in a good way,
crunchy & vibrant, nice
interplay between the
fruit, tannins and
acidity, ripe yet nicely
dry. The wine fleshes
out in the glass, yet
retains a sense of
elegance while the
flavours linger long on
the lip-smacking close.
2021 Craggy Range S.V Gimblett Gravels Merlot
Rating Excellent
Tilled earth, milk
chocolate, dark berryfruits
and blueberry. Rich and
full on entry, a touch of
creaminess before the
tannins and acidity
get into their stride.
Lovely poise and
balance to this, the
acidity lending a
tangy brightness as a
contrast to the fruit
richness, again ripe,
yet dry. Deceptive
power underpinning
this and structural
backbone. Great with
food now.
