On the risks of keeping a passive wine cellar.

At the beginning of the present century Sir Joseph Banks, of London, had a cask of wine which was too sweet for immediate use, and it was placed in the cellar to become mellowed by age. At the end of three years he directed his butler to ascertain the condition of the wine, when, on attempting to open the cellar door, he could not effect it in consequence of some powerful resistance. The door was cut down, and the cellar was found completely filled with a firm fungus vegetable production — so firm that it was necessary to use an ax for its removal. This had grown from and had been nourished by the decomposed particles of the wine. The cask was empty and touched the ceiling, where it was supported by the surface of the fungus.

– Frank H. Stauffer, The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical, 1882

[James Roscoe]

gross

I've encountered a few mushroomy smells in wines (one, at a recent tasting, caused a small argument, a younger taster calling the smell Chanterelles -- common in the area -- older tasters arguing for dried Porcini). And organisms growing in the wine (returned a large Morgon order once, as secondary ferment in the bottles was turning the wine into sparkling Lambrusco).

But not like this.

[Robin Garr]

I've encountered a few mushroomy smells in wines

Corked, I'd guess. That musty/wet cardboard/chlorine taste often blends with whatever vestige of fruit escapes the TCA to create a wild/dried mushroom character. I've found that 9 times out of 10 at tastings when somebody calls out "mushroom" they've got a corked wine.

I've encountered a few mushroomy smells in wines

Corked, I'd guess...

Hi Robin, I can imagine the scenario you describe, but in this case (I didn't explain earlier) it was not TCA at all but an unusual slightly smoky, woody, mushroomy aroma (hence the dried-Porcini association*). It was voted last in group preference, below another wine that had either barely perceptible TCA or else a mold residue mimicking it. (Opinion was divided on that one.) TCA -- which I describe exactly the same way you did above -- has a distinct chloriniferous edge to its aroma in common with some other chlorine-carrying aromatics (chloroform, etc). (I'm pretty good at detecting TCA, and this group was very experienced, most 30-40 years tasting, some in the trade and some life scientists who've on rare obsessive occasions actually taken samples for combined GC / Mass-Spec. analysis to settle a controversy.)


*Readers may have heard the reports that many commercial dried Porcini (cepe) mushrooms today, labeled "product of Italy and China," are chiefly from China where it is a practice to dry them over wood fires, artificially enhancing their smoky flavor.

While I might not be the most TCA sensitive, I've certainly run across mushroomy odors that I'm pretty sure weren't TCA. And they have sometimes seemed flaws (more the dried porcini things that Max describes), but also have been a part of a pleasant earthy/damp forest floor melange.

Funny story, I'll keep casks out of my passive cellar.

One good things re passive cellars- never have to worry that the compressor fails and the cooling system HEATS the cellar, as has happened on multiple occasions in active cellars.

Hmm, that reminds me of some of my underpants in my bachelor days (when I wore underpants).

Brewed a couple of batches of beer like that in the early days, too.

rwj

...oh my, too much information.

the cellar was found completely filled with a firm fungus vegetable production

Sounds just like my cellar!

Funny story, I'll keep casks out of my passive cellar.

One good things re passive cellars- never have to worry that the compressor fails and the cooling system HEATS the cellar, as has happened on multiple occasions in active cellars.

I suspect that Bob's usage of passive in this context has nothing to do with cooling and everything to do with the monitoring of activity, as I can't see any reason why the same thing shouldn't happen in an actively cooled cellar. That's still quite a reaction, BTW, as most spoilage of sweet wines involves refermentation (as Max mentions) and not fungal growth. Maybe it's akin to those famous molds that favor the cellars of Tokaji?

Mark Lipton

Right on Mark. I was was aware of the ambiguity, but a little too subtle in retrospect -- the cellar master was certainly too passive in this case.

No wine cellar that grows fungus in that profusion could EVER be classified as "passive".

This is why the glass bottle was invented. By the Romans--1500 or more years before this unfortunate occurrence. It's a graphic illustration of just how far Christianity put back civilization in Europe.

-Paul W.

I've encountered a few mushroomy smells in wines

Corked, I'd guess. That musty/wet cardboard/chlorine taste often blends with whatever vestige of fruit escapes the TCA to create a wild/dried mushroom character. I've found that 9 times out of 10 at tastings when somebody calls out "mushroom" they've got a corked wine.

Robin
Like Max, I was a little surprised by this. Mushroom is often a feature I appreciate in appreciably older wines. Definitely not something I would associate with TCA.

We tasted an interesting range of wines from Cascina Ballarin in La Morra/Annunziata. Throughout the range (of the reds) there was a consistent white truffle aroma - very pleasant, though quite which direction it would go with age I'm not sure. Having been on a truffle walk a few days before the aroma was very easy to pin down.

regards

Ian

[Jenise]

I've encountered a few mushroomy smells in wines

Corked, I'd guess. That musty/wet cardboard/chlorine taste often blends with whatever vestige of fruit escapes the TCA to create a wild/dried mushroom character. I've found that 9 times out of 10 at tastings when somebody calls out "mushroom" they've got a corked wine.

What Dale said. Absent the chlorine taste, mushroom character can be quite pleasant in aged wines, in hand with or evolving from what had been in youth a forest floor or earthy element, and definitely not TCA.

[Robin Garr]

What Dale said. Absent the chlorine taste, mushroom character can be quite pleasant in aged wines, in hand with or evolving from what had been in youth a forest floor or earthy element, and definitely not TCA.

We may be coming at this from different perspectives. My point, based on lots of experience in dealing with wine newbies, is that when someone unfamiliar with TCA comes across a profoundly afflicted wine, they'll often say it smells like mushrooms. Further affiant testifieth not. Normally, I sense TCA as "wet cardboard" with hints of Clorox.

We tasted an interesting range of wines from Cascina Ballarin in La Morra/Annunziata. Throughout the range (of the reds) there was a consistent white truffle aroma - very pleasant ...

Yes, and in certain red Burgundies (probably my favorite red wines) that are very typical of their regions, truffly aromas are routine. It's one of the cues that has helped me to blind-identify some of these wines (a fun game sometimes though not my main interest in wine.) One of Yoxall's wry quips (his book has many, some wryer) is below.

[Chambolle-Musigny] is said to smell of raspberries, as Echézeaux is said to do of truffles and Clos Vougeot of violets, but I must have an insensitive nose as I never catch these nuances; good wines of these communes just seem to me to have a lovely vinuous bouquet, with Echézeaux the most pronounced.

H. W. Yoxall, The Wines of Burgundy, Penguin, 1968 [1974 p’back], ISBN 0140462007. It’s also in 2nd Ed., 1978, ISBN 0812860918.