Photo by Justin Lauria on Unsplash
There are various type of problems that can occur in the winemaking process that result in the wine being damaged, or tainted.
Some common wine faults include:
Oxidized wine - Wine which is exposed to too much oxygen can take on orange/brown colors and nutty flavor
Brett - Caused by a type of yeast, this fault causes wine to smell like a barnyard, hay bales, a sweaty horse saddle, Band-Aids, or a sweaty horse
Cork Taint - Caused by airborne fungi and bacteria, wine takes on the odors of wet newspaper, a wet dog, or moldy cardboard
Cooked Wine - When wine has been exposed to too much heat, it can take on a nutty, brown color along with a roasted sugar aroma
Lightstrike - After exposure to too much UV light the wine may take on the smell of wet wool
These types of damage are sometimes rare (e.g., Brett, Cork Taint) and others are more common than we think (e.g., Oxidation, Cooked wine, Lightstrike). But then there’s Lady Bug Taint!
Lady bugs are quite common in the outdoors and generally thought to be beneficial to plants. The problem comes when Lady bugs remain on clusters of grapes during the winemaking process. When they are in distress, such as being crushed or drowned, their defense mechanism is to give off a smelly compound. This compound can have nutty notes, sometimes compared to roasted peanuts. It can also include odors of molded potatoes, asparagus, rotten peas or green bell pepper. It’s thought that just one beetle per vine can be enough to taint the resulting wine!
While not considered harmful to humans, this Lady bug taint is a real thing. So, as always, if your wine has an off-odor, it’s likely one of many things that can be damaging, including Lady bug taint. Who knew?