I've never read a more terrifying tasting note

Forget toasty vanillin oak, hedonistic fruit bomb, and all the other descriptors that have frightened me off wines in the past. None of them hold a candle to this review of a JJ Prum wine I saw on a retailer website:


94 POINTS WINE SPECTATOR “($52) Graceful, floral and flavorful, filled with elderflower, melon and star anise notes. This is very harmonious and complex, picking up durian and mineral details midpalate, coming together on the long conclusion. Drink now through 2029.”

True story - my wife, who is in Singapore right now, had fresh durian for dessert last night.

Odd, one of my co-workers and I were just talking about durians. He claims that the ones from Eastern Malaysia are the best. I like durians a lot and I assume the note is about the taste, not the smell.

Say what, Danius?? Durian has a smell?? Coulda fooled me!! [snort.gif]
I suspect the TN refers to the flavor, as well.
Tom

To me it’s one of the smells like some cheeses or mushrooms, natto, or even sex, that you like, or, I guess, don’t. I don’t mind it.

True, and the taste is delicious if you can find a prep that kills the smell (I know a place with a great durian milkshake where you can’t smell it). But the smell is so horrifying…

Jay, you need to taste one at full ripeness, any less can be a disaster. I traveled to Singapore twice a year for 20 years for business. During my September trips after dinner our group always stopped at a particular roadside stand known for their durian. It was located next to a public park. We always had our “local experts” with us and they would pick out a couple and slice them up on the spot. A delicious creamy flavor with notes of burnt brown sugar (caramellike) and hints of passionfruit. Were there sulfur notes, yes but fully integrated with the fruit and creaminess.

As an aside, over the years several new compounds, mainly sulfurs have been isolated from durian and have become very valuable in savory and dairy flavor creation.

Tom

I read a story where a couple had called the cops because they thought there was a gas leak. Turns out the neighbors were enjoying a durian. Perhaps the tasting note is alluding to a petrol flavor/smell?

I grew up in Singapore and have always hated the smell, which I believe comes from mercaptans (I’m not a chemist). I believe mercaptans are also used as an odorant in natural gas, and can also result from reductive winemaking

But you know the smell from a distance is nothing compared to actually having the fruit in your mouth. It sticks to your gums like nothing else. I tried it once and will never try it again

My experience is that if I eat it while holding my nose it is delicious. I just have to be very careful not to inhale through my nose before swallowing and rinsing my mouth out. Not worth the effort for me.

Or if turned into a frozen dessert you can get the flavor without the smell.

I have been off-base before, but I suspect one of those millennials is involved . . . trying to be the first to introduce a new word into the wine lexicon, no matter how inappropriate . . . maybe “called out” sick to work to write this TN . . . maybe just messing with us . . . Geez . . . millennials now ruining wine TNs as well !

I don’t understand the “it smells terrible but tastes good” mantra, to me the odor and flavor are purely fecal throughout. Years ago, someone convinced me to try a durian popsicle from that Asian market near Pikes Place. I took a bite, chewed it up, swallowed, and immediately vomited on the sidewalk.

Paraphrasing best descriptor I ever read (maybe from Lonely Planet 30 years ago?):
looks like sht, smells like sht, tastes like sh*t.

When trying it at a roadside stand in Thailand back then, I hated it. What was worse, the next day at breakfast, we were served a lovely fruit bowl and I could swear that I smelled durian among the fresh pineapple, etc. Fruit flashback!
Regards,
Peter

Seriously??? Not my experience. I’d become celibate if so.

A lot of durian from southern Philippines. I can’t stand the smell - smells like something dead and decaying. No, I’ve never eaten the fruit fresh. Closest I ever came to that was a bite of a durian candy bar that one of my cousins used to manufacture & sell. One bite was one too many.

Never read a more terrifying tasting note? Where has your memory gone, Jay? Stuart Yaniger on the 1993 Overnoy Poulsard (not my words, and not words I would ever write or think are okay to write, but words that were written and recorded for public consumption nonetheless):

I am shocked, Jay! “Durian” is just another word for “terroir”. :wink:

if it tastes like durian, it won’t stand till 2029.

That would be a Coche-Dury durian [tease.gif]

These are Musang King durians. One of the best varieties. We get through about 5kg a week when in season in Malaysia. These ones had been picked early in the morning and brought straight to KL. The farmer charged accordingly…

In Singapore, the local equivalent of Uber is called Grab. They now have a dedicated delivery service called GrabDurian for those who don’t want to pollute their cars on the way home (durians are banned on most public transport).
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