“In Spain, when you’re fifteen, sixteen years old, you have to decide what you want to study: Science or Humanities,” joked Riojas Miguel Merino.
“I chose Humanities… so I can’t let the wine go wrong, otherwise I won’t know what to do to make money!”
The diminutive Merino, who spent twenty years in various aspects of the wine business before deciding to try his hand at his own wines, is like a breath of air that’s fresher than the scent of the roses that line the experimental vineyards in front of his winemaking facility in the Rioja Alta area of Briones. While medieval town and its Moorish architectural influences are thoroughly traditional for this area of Spain, Merino’s wines are made with a decidedly modernist stylistic twist.
But these are not the boorish, overly-extracted oak-monsters that have come to symbolize Riojas modern red wine bent – they carry the charmingly poised sense of reverently balancing on the shoulders of Riojas best traditions when it comes to winemaking; and their acclaim (Merino now exports to over thirty countries) is, as you will shortly come to read, well-deserved. And it helps that Merino himself is just about as humble, and about as far removed from the overblown, removed sense of self that marks some of Riojas biggest modern winemaking stars, as one can get…
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Welcome back to the Weekly Wine Quiz, my friends!
Based on feedback from ever-so-vocal-and-intelligent peeps like you, I supply the quiz question each week, but do *not* supply the quiz answer directly in the post. That’s because YOU are supposed to supply the answer in the comments, and then tune back in later today in the comments section for the official answer. This week, we’re wrapping the foray into the science of oak aging, with a not-so-easy question to put your wine smarties through the staves…
Octalactating?
Methyl octalactones imparted to wine by the wood from aging in oak barrels can be an important source of aroma development in wines meant for aging. What aroma characteristic do they give to a wine?
- A. Leather
- B. Vanilla
- C. Toasted bread
- D. Coconut
Cheers – and good luck!
Welcome to the Weekly Wine Quiz, peoples.
Based on feedback from ever-so-vocal-and-intelligent peeps like you, I supply the quiz question each week, but do *not* supply the quiz answer directly in the post. That’s because YOU are supposed to supply the answer in the comments, and then tune back in later today in the comments section for the official answer. Because it’s more fun to keep you in suspense (and I’m a jerk like that). To make the suspense worse, I might be delayed in getting around to posting the answer since I’m on the road (again, again, again) this week – your patience is of course appreciated!
Today continues our recent theme on oak, with a decidedly stinky twist…
Hold Your Nose!
Wine barrels are often blamed as the culprit behind the animal and rubbery aromas associated with contamination of wine by yeast of the genus Brettanomyces. What is generally considered the perception threshold of “Brett” above which most people will be able to pick out those aromas?
- A. 500 mg/l
- B. 700 mg/l
- C. 750 mg/l
- D. 900 mg/l
Cheers – and good luck!
