Conflicted about brett

I tend to be really attracted to wine that many would describe as being faulted by brett. Savory, meaty, gamey, leathery, funky, barnyard, etc. When I find these characteristics in wine, I almost always consider it a bonus! Whereas most other wine drinkers I know are turned off and consider it a fault. Frankly, I’m often not sure if what I’m getting in the wine is actually brett or something else. It’s frustrating to think that my favorite flavors in red wine is actually most likely a fault! I find wine that has too much of a fruit profile to be boring, typically. Anyone else?

Research Guaiacol.

Todd, you must be under the false impression that I’m a chemistry major.

Often related to smoke damage.

Consider yourself fortunate that you like wines most others think are faulty; you’ll find much less competition for them.

No, I don’t share your enthusiasm for bretty wines and I do consider it defective product. But hey: go with what pleases you! And start drinking Pegau and Musar!

Your palate is not confused, it likes what it likes. All those notes you reference are elements that I tend to love in wines, and seen often in Northern Rhônes, Chinon and classic Bordeaux. I’m no scientist, but I didn’t think all of those notes are brett or caused solely by brett. I also don’t care, I like it. Assuming it is brett, which some may consider a fault, it is a natural product found on, for example, the skin of the fruit. A control mechanism is adding sulfur, an additive. I’d rather deal with low levels of brett than a winemaker lavishly using oak, toasting oak, picking overly-ripe, overly fining or filtering, and a myriad of other things that consultants and winemakers can do to wines to “enhance” or “cleanse” their wines. I’m so happy big baller DC and LA lawyers don’t like Chinon!

You could always try home winemaking and get brett on the cheap, as this tends to be a common fault for those who are not meticulous about cleaning up.

I totally agree, but brett isn’t the only alternative. If you like it, though, that’s good for you. It’s easy enough to find bretty wines.

I’m a little confused as to what any of this other than filtering has to do with brett. Most of the other things you’ve mentioned will make its impact on a wine more likely, if anything. It’s quite easy and common to make clean wines without using lots of new oak or overly ripe grapes.

I may not have been clear, as I was not trying to draw a connection between brett and things like toasted oak. My point was, while not quite calling it a “fault,” I perceive the over-use of oak, toast, picking super ripe grapes, etc., to be more of a flaw in winemaking than the presence of low levels of brett.

I have zero tolerance for brett.
Indeed, do what you like and enjoy.
But for me, I find it very off putting, even in low levels, a bit like somebody took a tiny dump in my wine.
:0
Delicious imagery?

A hint of the barnyard has always been a feature of a good aged Bordeaux, to me. Just a wee hint though.

Don’t you sell Domaine Guion?

All Brett in wine is not created equal. It presents in a number of different ways from intriguing to “run screaming from room”.

For me it’s a little like stinky cheese. When you’re unoffended by the aroma (or can at least tolerate it), it can be satisfying and potentially delicious. If the aroma is too much, time to look elsewhere.

RT

I haven’t noticed any brett in Guion in the past few vintages. There was one batch or bottling of the '09 Domaine that was massively affected, and I noted finding some brett in the '12 rose. Other than that I’ve found them very clean lately.

Basically I agree with what you say above, for whatever reason I prefer wines that are wild, sauvage, musky, that make you want to add descriptors like “feral” and I tend to like many wines that have some brett. I really like Occhipinti’s wines and Pegau, both of which people complain of brett. I’ve had good experiences recently with Cornelissen as well and people say those wines are often flawed but I think they’re just really wild and out there. I find a squeaky clean N. Rhone Syrah to be a shame. I do have my limits though. I’ve had wines that were undrinkable due to brett, including some of the aforementioned '09 Guion Domaine and some burgundy.

Guion 2011 exhibited notable brett to me, not my favorite vintage for Guion. I also had a 2010 Guion Les Deux Monts that was a bretty mess, and one that I sent to Kenny H did as well.

I agree with your comments about tastes. I will also comment, not everyone seems to agree on what notes brett seems to cause. I have even heard that the bacon in Northern Rhone is attributable to brett. Oh well, if it is. Like you, I do not like squeaky clean Northern Rhones, which is why I am not a fan of the Paris 30 and 60 bottlings, but do think Paris does very well with the Geynale vineyard. Michel slayed that vineyard, wonderful wines, with a little rustic streak that I like.

A couple of differences between brett and, say, toasted oak. When you remove the wine from oak and bottle it, it has all of the oak that it is going to have. Brett grows in the bottle (unless the wine is filtered or velcorin’ed). Second, if you choose to change your winemaking after a year and choose not to add oak at all the next year then you can easily to that. You just don’t buy oak. But if you have brett in your facility and don’t want it any longer, it is far more difficult to make that change.

Adam Lee
Clarice Wine Company and Siduri Wines

I haven’t had the 2010 Deux Monts but I have a few bottles, so perhaps I’ll check in. I had planned to leave them for a few more years, but this could affect that assessment.

I haven’t had all the Paris wines, but the ones I have had I’d kind of agree. A recent 2015 St. Jo was in many ways a really good Syrah and a good value, but it seemed to lack any real complexity and the overall impression was just as you say, squeaky clean. They played to the fruit notes of Syrah and not to the savory, non-fruit notes of meat and tar and brine that I like to see a lot of in N. Rhone Syrah.

Durian is another example. It’s a fruit that is very offensive to the initiated but has some hard core devotees.

For the funky cheese and durian, its supposed to taste that way. Is there intention from the winemaker to have some brett, or is it just because they didn’t have the funds to clear it out of their facility?

Robert/Micheal: I had the 2015 St Joseph recently and it was definitely feral (wife sat next to me and made a face before I even had a chance to taste). The 2015 30/60 granite were pretty clean though. Does brett have bottle variation?

P.S. Count me a fan of durian, stinky cheese (my favorite is Epoisse) and mild brett (enough to keep things interesting but not if it dominates). My wife hates durian and brett but loves Epoisse.

I like older Beaucastel so I guess I can tolerate some brett (not Pegau so much, though), but when it gets downright fecal smelling, I’m out. And a bretty wine from Provence smells like a bretty Bordeaux and like a bretty wherever – it does a good job of obscuring terroir, IMO. I think some people genuinely like brett in its various manifestations (go figure), but some people equate a bretty wine with “authenticity”, the opposite in their minds of the much-maligned, and somewhat apocryphal, UC Davis squeaky-clean style of winemaking.