So I just got this email from the NRA (which I am a member of.) Of all the things that I might expect to see in such an email, wine is not one of them. Yet, for some totally bizarre reason, someone at the NRA decided that its members would be interested in special deals on wine.
The first wine listed: 2005 El Tiburon California Cabernet Sauvignon. “A blend of grapes from Napa Valley and Sonoma County, this wine offers aromas and flavors of cassis, plum, black olive, bacon, mint and berries.”
Bacon?
BACON?
Am I missing something here? What the fuck is this? Since when is wine supposed to have “aromas and flavors” of bacon in it? In the movie Sideways when the guy says he tastes “a hint of cheese” in the wine and the other guy makes some sarcastic remark about it, I thought that was supposed to be a joke. But do wine-o-philes really taste this stuff in the booze they’re drinking?
2006 Premonition Sonoma MSP Sauvignon Blanc: We have a feeling you’re going to love this wine, which showcases aromas and flavors of kiwi, pink grapefruit, green apple, melon, honey and hay.
Hay?
Are these flavors really there in wine? Why? How? Do a majority of people who drink these specific wines actually taste bacon or hay in them, without already being told that the wine “contains” those flavors, or is this just something that the company is claiming and then people drinking it can say, “hey, I DO taste the bacon after all!”
Yes, wine geeks will taste all sorts of stuff in their wine. Take a gander at a few descriptions of real wines available at Bevmo. A hint of cheese is the least of it:
fruit-forward personality, along with notes of melted licorice, black currants, tobacco leaves, and sweet oak; no hard edges.
tarry flavors with a hint of underlying black fruit; substantial and full on the palate.
(Tastes like a road. Yum!)
scents of nectarines, quince, orange marmalade, brioche, and a leesy element; possesses terrific acidity; a big, bold, smoky style.
slightly toasty, lemony, spiced baked apple aroma with hints of tropical fruit; well-balanced; crisp.
violets and cocoa powder joins the parade of superb flavors here.
the purest expression of crushed cherries and blackberries, and oak inspired hints of nougat and caramel.
(Is this wine or candy?)
tannins are sleek and refined; melds into the huge core of roasted chestnut, black currant paste and warm fig
(Not just currants and figs, but currant paste and warm figs!)
I do have to admit that this is the first time I’ve heard anyone describe a flavor in wine as bacon.
See, I totally get the different kinds of fruit tastes, because, I mean, wine is made from fruit, and I’m willing to buy that different kinds of grapes can take on the flavors of other fruits under certain conditions. Oak and other kinds of wood, makes sense because the wine is aged in wooden casks.
But it’s not like cheese interacts with the wine-making process in any form, nor hay, or bacon, or tobacco. That’s what confuses me.
Fruit is only part of the process. They ferment with certain yeast, they age in certain woods. I would identify “bacon” as a “smoky” flavor/aroma, myself.
Bacon is nothing compared to some aromas/flavors that can develop in wine. Not all are desirable. Some have been described as “cat pee”, “wet cardboard”, and so forth.
No cite, unfortunately, but I remember reading about a study which showed that when people described wines they used descriptors which usually matched the color, not necessarily the flavor. Reds tasted like cherries, tobacco, plums, etc. whereas whites tasted like hay, amber, saffron, etc. They amy have even fooled people into thinking they were drinking a different type of wine, switched labels and opaque glassware perhaps? I wish I could find that article.
I’m sure amateurs bullshit about what they taste all the time, but there really are people who can taste all sorts of crazy shit in wine. I heard a story on NPR about a guy who won something called the Golden Nose award, and they said identifying the type of grape, the year it was grown, and the farm it was grown on - just by smell - was child’s play to him.
Condiments! It never occurred to me! Bacon Salt indeed. And a quick google for “bacon pepper” yielded no additional condiments, but did serve up this. It’s always nice to have some fresh bread on the table. And of course, butter.
Yep. We do. The aroma or taste of bacon/grilled meat/game is not that unusual for certain reds.
Hay is common in some whites, especially Sauv Blanc.
Most times, yes.
Certain chemical compounds will be created or introduced during various winemaking processes. One of the most obvious is the smell of butter in certain Chardonnays, or sometimes cheese in some reds. During malolactic fermentation of those wines, diacetyl is produced. It’s the compound that makes butter (and movie theatre oil, etc.) taste like butter.
In the case of a wine that has characteristics of bacon or grilled meat, etc., the compounds 4-ethyl guaiacol and/or 4-methyl guaiacol may be present and would most likely be the result of oak barrel aging.
This is a hard one. I do, and just about everyone I know including my children do. But I work in the wine industry. I study wine. I drink it every day, and it’s a huge part of the lifestyle of many, many people in this area. But I don’t think that’s the majority of casual wine drinkers.
It takes a little palate training, and some people just have better sniffers or whatever, but I know many people do pick up key aromas and flavors in the wines they drink.
Here are some links with classic wine descriptions -
Feel free to ask any questions. I’ve taken a crap load of classes, have way too many books, and I’m studying to do something similar to what Cisco described.
