Bob Campbell MW aka Mr Grumpy. The Real Review
When I first started judging wine in the 1970s, judges were advised to be on the look-out for mousiness, an odour that closely resembled stale mouse urine.
I rarely encounter mousy wines today but still do the cup-and-sniff test when I suspect a wine is tainted.
According to The Oxford Companion to Wine, mousiness is caused by “brettanomyces yeasts and some bacteria including some, but not all, lactic acid bacteria. Low levels of sulfur dioxide, high pH and exposure to oxygen increase the risk of wine developing mousy odours”.
If a judge suspected that a wine was mousy they were advised to pour a little in the palm of their hand and rub the palms together before cupping them and sniffing the cavity caused by cupping. This messy routine was supposed to amplify the offensive odour. Fortified wines were particularly susceptible, I recall.
I rarely encounter mousy wines today but still do the cup-and-sniff test when I suspect a wine is tainted.
This Article was originally published on The Real Review
