(NS) - Whiff of leathery barnyard?

What: Cat urine
Taste it in: Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is famous for its signature "cat pee on a gooseberry bush" flavour – a mixture of cat urine, tropical fruit and green aromas. It is believed to derive in part from thiols, organic compounds containing sulphur. Levels of thiols can be affected by the temperature of fermentation. And wine from grapes harvested by machine seems to have higher levels of thiols than those picked by hand. That may be because the harvester can also pick up leaves containing thiol precursors. Such compounds are then transformed in thiols by yeast during fermentation.

What: Bell peppers
Taste it in: Merlot, Marlborough, New Zealand

Ladybirds excrete pungent chemicals called methoxypyrazines. If too many of the insects are clinging to the grapes when they get crushed, the resultant ...