I’ve noticed that in all the best wines I’ve had (just personal opinion), there is a tertiary “leather” note. Is this particular note due to the grape, bottle age, or the winemaker’s style?
I find it most in italian grapes like nebbiolo and sangiovese but also in pinot noir and bourdeaux blends. Its definitely more present in older bottles, but some styles like brunello tend to show it even when fairly young (5 to 10 years old). Any recommendations on wines that tend to have this characteristic? Is it really just a product of bottle age? If so, at what age does this typically start to develop?
Good question. It seems to be red wines with tannins. The items you mentioned especially cabs, zins. At least with quality cabs, you will always find the tertiary if it was a good year and well made. Merlot also. The ravenswood wines of 1990s and earlier seemed to have this quality.
You can also find in cab franc and cru beaujolais. For my palate the 1990s wines and earlier seem to have it. For the 2000s it’s developing. It’s slower in strong vintages like 2005 2009 and 2010. These then to be longer agers so they are still youthful tasting with some exceptions.
Also the Rhône wines have the characteristic but after 15 to 20 years.
I agree that leather can be brett, but I think that calling it “likely” is an overstatement. Saddle (which is not to be confused with what I would call leather) is a much better bet but even then it’s not a sure thing. Of course if you don’t like those types of flavors it really doesn’t matter whether it’s brett or not.