What creates the iodine flavor often found in pinot noir?

[Jenise]

I hate it. That is, I used to tolerate it without ever liking it, but after a month of having my pinot taste buds refined by drinking nothing but pinot noir, I'm here to say: I hate it.

And so when I took two trendy, modern California pinots, both from Garys' Vineyard, to lunch with friends yesterday, and both had that iodine quality--well, yuck. Others were kind since California pinots are more an oddity to them, but I couldn't stand either one, and now I'm primed to understand exactly what causes that.

Hi Jenise,
Unless the wine is actually contaminated with iodine or an iodine compound, sulfur compounds could be the culprit.

Salute

[Jenise]

Victor, how would a wine become contaminated with iodine?

Iodine, like a band-aid smell? That is usually--unless you are drinking Beaucastle--a particularly odious strain of Brett. Did it blow off?

I don't mind a little of the barnyard type Brett, especially in Burgundy, but I admit the iodine type is tough to shrug off.

Jenise, why don't you email this post to the winery's in question? I suspect they would like to hear your complaint, and it might even encourage them to investigate the cause. I am assuming that this is more than one winery, but I guess it might not be. In the case of it being one winery, it seems to me that it is even more evidence that the problem lies with the winery itself.

I hate it. That is, I used to tolerate it without ever liking it, but after a month of having my pinot taste buds refined by drinking nothing but pinot noir, I'm here to say: I hate it.

And so when I took two trendy, modern California pinots, both from Garys' Vineyard, to lunch with friends yesterday, and both had that iodine quality--well, yuck. Others were kind since California pinots are more an oddity to them, but I couldn't stand either one, and now I'm primed to understand exactly what causes that.

Jenise,
I usually find iodine in white wines, especially Sauvignon Blanc, that have begun to oxidize. Could it be that your Pinots had some oxidation to them? How old were they? What sort of closures? For that matter, what is your reference for an iodine smell?

Mark Lipton

[Jenise]

Good questions, Mark. Vintage 2001, both. Roar and Siduri. The Siduri was by far the better/fresher of the two but was no less affected. Bill doesn't mention it in his TN, but I'd suggest that's possible because the Roar so lacked fruit that the iodine was kind of out there all by itself.

My reference for iodine? Well, it's something I've found in pinots a lot, particularly Central California pinots come to think of it. The first time ever, I recall, was in some Au Bon Climats that Jim Clendenen poured at an IPNC event. Three vintages, and Dick Ponzi poured the same three vintages of his Oregon wines. All three ABC's had that quality, something I hadn't run into before and didn't have a name for, but I then ran into it from time to time. Then a few years later I happened to have had dinner with another couple and winemaker Chris Whitcraft, and one of the wines we were sharing had that smell. I don't remember which wine it was, but Chris labeled it 'iodine' and I've been using the term ever since.

Jenise,
Iodine or some form of iodine containing compound could be an active ingredient in a sanitizing agent. If the wine equipment is not properly rinsed this could leave residue.

Salute

[Jenise]

Jenise,
Iodine or some form of iodine containing compound could be an active ingredient in a sanitizing agent. If the wine equipment is not properly rinsed this could leave residue.

Salute

Oh, okay, I see what you mean. But I tend to think it's something else, since it so often occurs in pinot noir, particularly from this area of California. Or maybe, it's the same thing that causes the bandaid flavor in other wines only in pinot it seems different?

I don't drink CA Pinots on a regular basis, but from your descriptions it sounds like how I react to certain Lagreins from Italy. I had used nail polish for the descriptor, but band-aid sounds about right. This smell, does it have anything to do with the airplane glue note found in Musar wines? Bengay?

Jenise,
Like an old band aid?
When I smell iodine I think of a more metallic Scotch whisky aroma. I think must people identify iodine with band aids because at one time it was used to treat cuts and scraps. IMO the metallic Scotch whisky aroma and old band aid smell is the same.

Salute

Iron in the soil.

Iodine itself, although it’s mostly found in seawater, it could be found as trace elements in certain minerals and soils.

Salute

I'm not a Scotch person but there is a specific type of single malt Scotch that really smells and tastes of iodine. In fact it reminds me of times when I had bitten accidently into a piece of kelp when skin diving off of the CA coast.

[Jenise]

Paulo, I've had the nail polish/plastic shower curtain in lagreins, I know of what you mean. And this is offputting in the same way, but it's not the same aroma.

I'm not a Scotch person but there is a specific type of single malt Scotch that really smells and tastes of iodine. In fact it reminds me of times when I had bitten accidently into a piece of kelp when skin diving off of the CA coast.

Yes -- I've collected single malts for years; a few specific ones do smell dramatically of iodine (an element I also have some experience with in pure form) and AFAIK the source of this particular smell is actually iodine. Single malts are local products; the ones I refer to come from rugged coastal regions where this sea mineral concentrates in plants. (Same reason we in coastal zones don't need to use iodized salt to get this mineral). The extraction and distillation must concentrate it. (It is not to everyone's taste.) Like Lou I also spend time in the ocean, have more than enough acquaintance with kelp, and agree with the association.

Consult your qualified health professional for medical advice; consult single malts for flavor.

I think I understand the flavor/sensation of which you write, but it is certainly not due to iodine or iodine related compounds. Nor is it likely due to metal ions (e.g. iron, which can play a role in hydrogen sufide production). Wine is a complex mixture of compounds and most of the flavors/aromas are the result of esters, aldehydes, terpenes, etc. To put a finger on which ones are responsible for a particular flavor is not always straightforward.

Max wrote:
Single malts are local products; the ones I refer to come from rugged coastal regions where this sea mineral concentrates in plants.

A “rugged coastal region” sounds like a good description for California’s Central Coast.
So it’s very possible that a wine growing region’s cooling fogs could bring the influence of the sea in land.

Salute

It isn't iodine. You probably are experiencing aromatics similar to the solvent used to dissolve iodine. That Band-Aid quality could be a sign of Brett.

http://www.aromadictionary.com/articles ... ticle.html

It isn't iodine. You probably are experiencing aromatics similar to the solvent used to dissolve iodine.

I agree about the Brett prospect with PNs (I don't have iodine as an association in any PNs; FWIW I taste mostly, literally, old-world PNs).

However for the record, the standard medical solvent for iodine is alcohol. I verified this in the usual authoritative texts which revealed interesting trivia that (1) iodine tincture is medically called "probably superior to any other agent" for skin disinfection and (2) iodine is extracted industrially from kelp.

The single malts I mentioned smell of iodine, not Brett, and more than one person has asserted that they'd be of more use in the medicine cabinet than the liquor cabinet.

I always thought that a “new and unused Band aid” was used as a descriptor for a wine contaminated by Brett for its plastic- vinyl smell?
Isn’t it possible that Brett can also contribute a bitter metallic character?

Salute

While I think brett can manifest itself as a 'band-aid' sort of aroma, I have a feeling that the wineries that Jenise is talking about probably have their brett levels under control. But I too have noticed an iodine-like note in some central coast PNs as well....

Hmmm, maybe it is central coast terroir?

Funny... I've have worked with iodine crystals in chemistry lab and I do not recall any smell from the crystals.

Those of you who are sure that what you smell is iodine - have you ever worked with pure iodine? Do you really remember iodine as an aroma? Or are you thinking of iodine tincture? Or maybe even mercurochrome. which often replaced iodine in the medicine cabinet?

As for peaty malts from Scotland, I have smelled my share and drank a few. The aroma is peaty, like petrol. I have no idea who ever started the association with iodine, but it is tough to stop a metaphor from being repeated if people don't have one to replace it with.