Welcome to the Weekly Wine Quiz!
Based on feedback from ever-so-vocal-and-intelligent peeps like you, I do not supply the quiz answer directly in the post – you will need to tune back in later in the comments section for the answer. Blah, blah, blah – you know all this already…
Anyway, this week we’re continuing the WWQ theme of stinky wine faults! Enjoy!
Also: don’t forget, Wine Blogging Wednesday #75 is next week on March 21st! Get your single vineyard wines ready, peoples!!!
Okay, now back to WWQ, already in progress:
Oh, Captain! Mercaptan!
Sometimes good wines just go… bad! Meaning, of course, that chemical faults can often ruin an otherwise perfectly good bottle of vino. Organic compounds known as mercaptans can cause what kind of off-putting stench in a wine?
- A. Onions and cabbage
- B. Rotten eggs
- C. Potted plants
- D. Burnt matches
Cheers, good luck, and happy (and safe!) St. Paddy’s Day!
Joe — Going with onions and cabbage answer
Myles – PU! :)
I am going to go with A Joe.
Thanks, Joel!
Definetly onions
JHNordaker – thanks.
Onions and cabbage = mercaptan!
Thanks, Sally!
Here you go, my smarties!
Wine Quiz Answer: A. Onions and cabbage
Mercaptans form when sulfur dioxide and ethyl alcohol combine during winemaking. Usually the result of diethyl mercaptans (which, alas, are untreatable), they result in smells reminiscent of cut onions or even rotting cabbages. Yuck!
Bordeaux will continue to be the benchmark as long as all the hype & publicity continues to surround them. And now the Chinese and Asian markets have bought into the hype as well (plus real estate). It's the same for all luxury goods – if you do a great job of promoting & image-building, then people will pay almost anything for the experience and bragging rights. Only we (the consumer) can shift things by not buying-in, but of course that's not going to happen…..
Joe – how did I end up here when I was posting on the story? Sorry everyone – user error!