Maillard reactions?

An LA wine store in its tasting notes for a Zena Crown Pinot Noir described the wine as having “Maillard reactions.” I could not find this word in the Oxford English dictionary. Anybody have any idea what it means?

Quick, easy explanation is that it is a reaction between sugars and amino acids that leads to a ‘browning’ as you would see with searing a steak, toasting/baking bread etc… The flavor profile that comes out of this reaction can be different depending on which food/drink it is occurring in, but in general it tends to give a toasty, slightly nutty, vanilla aroma/flavor profile. It is quite common in Champagne due to the addition of dosage.

The term is also commonly used in roasting coffee circles to describe the process.

Named, of course, after Mr. Maillard from France.

It’s one of the things that makes aged sweet white wines change color, aroma, and flavor so much. Usually associated with heat, but not always. I think it’s becoming the next big term for food and wine people, but would never say that a wine has Maillard reactions. The tense just seems wrong.

Anyhow, here’s a quick and easy link:
http://www.nomacorc.com/blog/2015/09/like-grilling-a-steak-but-much-slower-how-the-maillard-reaction-affects-the-aromas-of-wine/

Named after Jimmy Maillard, from Paramus, NJ. Everyone knows that.

Damn! That footballer looking for work?

Jimmy Maillard. France français Age 46 ans.
Né le 26 Janv 1971 à Tomblaine France. Club Retraité.
Poste défenseur.
Taille 1m78 Poids 70 kg.

Scroll down to explanatory notes. Great list on flavors and aromas BTW.

It’s a broad term for a number of reactions which can take place between sugars and amino acids in foods under certain conditions.
In this case, it likely indicates either that the wine was left in the trunk for too long, or the taster is a smart-ass.

If it walks or talks like a duck. That’s a Mallard reaction.

Interesting. I learn something every day. I would have argued that the Maillard reaction only happens above 300 degrees. This is new to me.

Isn’t the original statement just intended to say that the wine has flavors reminiscent of those produced by the Maillard reaction (i.e. the flavors of the “brown bits” of meat or vegetables that we seek to preserve by deglazing a pan)?

I guess the way I would rationalize this is thinking about smoking a brisket or ribs. A lot of the time that happens at 200-250F, and you definitely have the “browning effect”. Maillard reactions are pretty complex, I took a Chemistry of Cooking class back in the day that could have been a whole semester on this topic if you get deep into the weeds. That class was a lot of fun.

I was thinking it was likely a pretentious way of saying it smelled of high-toast barrels.

It’s like pain grille for the sesquipedalian crowd.

peter liem mentions Maillard reaction in his champagne book, describing it as the interaction between amino acids released by yeasts and the sugar from dosage, to create a brioche like flavor

I guess that could happen with pinot noir, no dosage but the fruit would have higher sugar to begin with? Not sure about that. Could also see it misused to describe oak notes

Here’s a useful summary of Maillard (sans any actual chemistry), particularly the section on the right. It can certainly occur at room temperature, though we’re most familiar with it in cooking, because it helps with browning at temps much lower than would otherwise occur.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/maillard-reaction

But using it to describe the character of a wine seems a little strange.

Maillard is temperature- and pH-dependent. This is why you can brown onions super fast if you add baking soda. At wine pH and at room temperature, in situ Maillard is very slow.