Southern Rhone

Bad bottle, probaly brettanomyces infection. Grenache does not smell of dung :-)

Thanks, Mike. I googled brett -- I'm impressed with your knowledge. Just another one of those questions that I'm not going to have to postpone until I get to the Pearly Gates :-))

Dee Dee

I'm sure Mike is right about the brett, barnyard/dung is a classic descriptor for brettanomyces. The only questionable part of his response is the "bad bottle"- it could be representative, there are plenty of producers who typically show some brett.

I don't know of any subject that causes more controversy than brett:

Brett comes in multiple strains

Brett can "bloom" in bottles that see warmer storage, or have come from one bottle, so there's no definitive way to say XX wine does or doesn't have brett.

People vary a lot in their sensitivity to brett (and various strains of the same),.

People vary a lot in whether they find objectionable (and many find one strain ok and another objectionable)

So not surprising that you found it and DH didn't

I'm one who can't stand it. Too many bottles are contaminated these days, some worse than others. Most of them seem to be Spanish and French. The minute I sense brett, the bottle goes back or gets dumped.

I recent years I've had problems with wines from Pesquera (1996) and Condado de Haz (2001). When I returned the wines, the local rep tried to blow me off with some snooty b.s. about not appreciating the wines' "rustic style." Fact is there was nothing "rustic" about it -- the wine was contaminated. I have Condados in my cellar from other (earlier) vintages that are just fine.

Some of you may recall a similar incident I had several years ago with Costco over a stanked-out Kirkland-label Bordeaux. I received a similarly arrogant "you don't know jack" attitude from their wine queen at the time, but I refused to back down. A few days later all that wine was pulled from their shelves.

Brett -- a good name for a Maverick brother. Not so good as a wine "nuance."

JJ

I have to say that lots of my all time favorite wines have shown a touch of brett. The "Cordier funk" of 82 & 86 Gruaud, 86 Meyney, good bottles of 90 Montrose or 89 Beaucastel.... Of course not every bottle with brett appeals, there are limits for me both to how much before it becomes problematic, and different strains bother me more than others.

What is worse when buying Costco is to buy a bottle one likes, and then decide to buy, say, 6 more bottles. Then, the 1st of the "6 more bottles" stink, and then you're faced with opening each one with trepidation.

The scenario that is most likely to happen in this household is that if it is a mediocre, but tolerable, wine to begin with, one starts to doubting one's own judgment of buying 6 bottles (of anything!).

Here at our Costco, I've taken corked bottles back. I leave the un-drunk wine in the bottle to show that I've not finished it off. As for "you don't know jack" attitude, here in Winchester, VA, I've never encountered any attitude at all for any purchases. But I have encountered that attitude at another big warehouse store, of which I am no longer a member, but not totally for that reason.

Dee Dee

One man's garbage is another man's brett!

No, but some people identify Mouverdre as the "culprit" in Beaucastel.

Or it could be brett, as you say, Mike.

If it is just a hint, many wine lovers would say it is a good thing, though opinions differ.

Yes it is a common notion that, just because for years Bandol wines were made in dirty barrels far older than the vines, the odor of barnyard and sweat got an upgrade from "defect" to "typical feature" not just of Bandol wines but even of the grape variety Mourvèdre itself...

Since then, things have thankfully changed and the best Bandol wines have no hint of brett whatsoever.

By the same reasoning, I would impute the funny tastes to Beaucastel barrels, not to the poor grape that did nothing to deserve its funky reputation.