WineJedi
Grape Sorter
Posts:351
 | | 04/28/2006 1:37 AM |
| My girlfriend bought me a wine tasting kit(L'Atelier Du Vin) awhile back. i have not used it much yet but one of the smells i remember is "cat wee wee". at the time i thought that was an odd smell to get from a wine. well last night i bought a half bottle of 1998 chateau greysac and the 1st smell i notice is cat urine  . very strong odor and still very evident today. needless to say the wine did not taste good. my question is this, is this a flaw in the wine and what normally causes this odor? | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 04/28/2006 2:12 AM |
| | Unless they make a white wine, it's a flaw. Cabernet-based wines shouldn't smell like that. I don't believe Greysac makes a white wine, but I could be wrong. | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15701
| | 04/28/2006 2:16 AM |
| To answer your question... in a red wine it is a flaw.
Sauvignon Blanc (especcially NZ stuff) is "trademarked" with the smell of cat pee. It is the best way to determing a NZ SB in a blind tasting. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 04/28/2006 2:25 AM |
| | Actually, david, for me the distinguishing aroma in NZ SB is grapefrit. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 04/28/2006 3:08 AM |
| | pink grapefruit | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 04/28/2006 3:17 AM |
| | LOL. You've got one finely-honed nose, Jones! | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 04/28/2006 3:21 AM |
| | LOL. Probably just biased because I was born in Texas and when I think grapefruit I think pink. | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15701
| | 04/28/2006 6:01 AM |
| Quote:
Actually, david, for me the distinguishing aroma in NZ SB is grapefrit.
Ok! How 'bout "what the cat marked its territory with after eating a pink grapefrit"?
Do you suppose the cat can get those little wedgies out?
By the way it's pink grapefrit and a FEMALE cat. | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15701
| | 04/28/2006 6:06 AM |
| Quote:
No descriptors used in The Chronicle Wine section raise as much hair on the back of reader's necks as "cat pee" and "sweat." They appear, as they do today, in our tasting panel comments on Sauvignon Blancs from the Marlborough region of New Zealand
SF Chronicle | | | |
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