There’s much spoken right now about the effects of the spoilage yeast, brettanomyces, on wine. While I’d contend that much of the discussion is poorly informed, I’ve been very concerned of late to discover that far too many winemakers haven’t a clue as to what its influence actually tastes like. At a Central Otago’s Pinot Noir Celebration last weekend a Kiwi wine tasted in an open panel session was simply riddled with the stuff, to the extent that I found it difficult to taste anything else. Given that most people speaking about the wine were strongly in favour of it, I thought I had little choice but to make my views known. The overwhelming majority of winemakers in the room strongly disagreed with my assessment, along with some very highly credentialed importers and exporters. Thankfully the wine’s maker had the courage to concede that it was in fact badly spoiled by brett, so while my popularity in the room might have remained lukewarm, at least I managed to escape with my own kneecaps. In another instance, the maker of a high-profile Victorian pinot noir recently sent me another bottle to evaluate, since he was convinced that my review of his wine, which mentioned a heavy-handed brett influence, was wrong. The wine actually tasted worse than I had remembered it. Alarming, yes, but he’s not alone. I’d suggest a crash-course in brett for any winemaker not entirely confident he or she can identify its effects, for they’re becoming significantly more widespread than is desirable.
