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Archive for July 11th, 2007

11

Jul

Is Brett a Friend?

Jacob Gaffney  in Red Wines, Pinotage , , ,

As part of The Whinery Club’s July assignment, InterWined.com bought a bottle of 2005 Graham Beck Pinotage (£7.50 at Tesco). I decided to try the wine in honor of my late, great brother…oh, he isn’t deceased, he’s just tardy, we’re meeting for coffee today.

The Graham Beck, when first opened smelled of horse leather, cedar, aromatic, curry-type spices (garam masala), and wet earth. At first the smell was quite strong, but then later eased up and the wine became more polished.

According to Pascal Chatonnet, who works in wine research at the University of Bordeaux, the chemical that causes this specific taste profile, Brettanomyces, or Brett for short, is not dangerous to your health. And while the wine wasn’t unpleasant, InterWined can’t be sure that it didn’t cover up what could have been an otherwise different tasting wine. Normally the wine should be lusher with ripe berry fruits, shouldn’t it? 8.2.

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