Hello, Preparing for a tasting of modern Beaujolais, we opened two bottles of the lower rungs, one of which was a Faiveley B-V 2009. This was a pleasant enough wine with a good structure and clean acidity, but, on the nose, a great deal of marshmallows/ripe banana - not like a Bojol Noveau, but still, quite noticeable. We did not finish the bottle, but after 4-5 days drank what was left and, the marshmallows had disappeared, leaving undergrowth, possibly a hint of violets, and blackberries. According to at least three different sources, the marshmallow/banana smell derives from an industrial yeast and is caused by isoamyl acetate. So, not really caused by carb mac, then. I would like to know what the carbonic maceration does to the organoleptic qualities of wine, apart from lowering acidity (which appears to be a given, and needful with Gamay which tend to produce high acidity).
Organoleptic signatures of carbonic maceration
Sep 19, 2011
3 Replies
Yes, Nils, I don't consider banana to be associated with CM vinification. There is, however, a distinct aroma profile that I associate with CM, which I can best characterize as grapey, fresh and forward. It's very evident in many Cru Beaujolais as CM is employed by many vignerons there. One way to get a handle on what I'm referring to is to compare another CM wine such as Marc Ollivier's Cuvée Granit, which is a blend of Côt (Malbec) and Cab Franc, to a Cru Beaujolais and see what they have in common despite their disparate encepagements.
Mark Lipton
yes, I'm with Mark, I don't associate any particular flavor with CM, but instead a sense of fruitiness/grapiness. Plus, despite the fact it is a form of whole cluster I don't usually get "stemmy" effects. But I'm not a phyically gifted taster
That seems like a very good suggestion - I'm going down to Nice on Saturday and will try to find the wine in question. Cheers Nils
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