This article will help you identify and understand why certain white wines have buttery aromas. It will help you understand why an aroma in a wine can have these characteristics, and what is being done by the wine maker to purposefully produce these specific aromas. We will also explore what purposes these wines serve in the marketplace.
Instructions
1. Understand where the idea of buttery aromas in wine come from and where they fit into the American wine marketplace. In the mid-nineteen seventies, the American wine market went through a drastic change, and most of that change was happening in California. What most wine enthusiasts refer to as a "California Style" of wine, or winemaking, is due in large part to wine makers in Napa Valley at this time. The fertile land of that area became dominated by two of the most popular grapes in French winemaking: Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Californian approach, however, was to be radically different than the French approach. First of all, the soil was completely different, so the grapes would, in their essence, be different. Also, the French used French oak barrels to ferment and age their white and red wines. The Californian producers used American oak, which imparts a stronger flavor. When using this oak, more vanillin, a chemical found in oak wood that gives artificial vanilla extract it's flavor, is imparted from the American wood, giving the wine an initial vanilla and butter aroma. This difference in flavor represented the shift in the American wine palate that continued through the eighties and on until today. Do an experiment: open a bottle of artificial vanilla extract and a bottle of real vanilla extract. Smell them, side by side (giving yourself a moment between the two to clear your head). The artificial extract will smell sweeter and more buttery. That is the vanillin, the same chemical that is in the popular California Chardonnays that give them some of their buttery aromas. But the oak is only half of the story. The rest happens through Malolactic Fermentation.
2. Identify Malolactic Fermentation. Malolactic Fermentation, despite it's name, has nothing to do with the fermentation of sugars into alcohol by yeast cells. It is a secondary fermentation that is used in wines with high acidity to convert some of the malic acid (a strong acid) into lactic acid (a less intense acid). It is commonly performed in newer wines that are naturally higher in acidity. The process is done by introducing lactic bacteria into the wine, the same way yeasts are introduced. Many Beaujolais Nouveaux have lactic bacteria added, as the young wine produced by the Gamay grape can be bracingly acidic. To achieve a softer, smoother chardonnay, malolactic fermentation was introduced in the wine-making processes of California Chardonnays. The chemical diacetyl is one of the bi-products of the chemical reaction that converts the malic acid into lactic acid, and it also happens to be the chemical that gives butter the smell that it has. The initial discovery of this was, in all likeliness, a fluke, but the style caught on and now it is a quality that is sought after in many California Chardonnays. Open your bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau and pour a small amount into your red wine glass. Swirl it around to open it up and take a deep smell. Instead of dark, ripe fruit, like you might expect from some red wines, this wine should smell light, sweet and even may have notes of banana. These soft aroma notes, while not buttery, are proof of malolactic fermentation and where they produce odd aromas like banana in red wines, they produce the rich scent of butter in white wines. Now open your California, Barrel Fermented Chardonnay and pour a bit into your white wine glass. Swirl and smell. The undeniable smell of butter and oak will rise from the glass and stand forefront, before all other scents, most likely. This is, again, due to the combination of Barrel and Malolactic Fermentation.
3. Understand how Barrel Fermentation and Malolactic Fermentation are used to affect other grapes. Another grape that the California wine industry put it's own spin on the nineteen seventies was Sauvignon Blanc. A grape that was known to make light, crisp and acidic wines, certain wine makers in California decided to try fermenting the grape in American oak. The product was a softer and fuller bodied wine, aided by the flavors the oak imparted. These wines (nicknamed Fume-Blancs) also tended to have subtle buttery aromas to them. Some even underwent Malolactic Fermentation to make them even less acidic and smoother to the taste. Like the Chardonnays that were made the same way, some of these Fume-Blancs will have notes of butter on the nose from the presence of diacetyl. Open your Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and your Fume-Blanc, side by side. Pour a glass of each, swirl, and smell. They should be strikingly different. The New Zealand wine will most likely be a powerhouse of sharp, citrus and flinty smoke, while the Fume will be softer, sweeter and will have buttery aromas.
4. Find more examples of these wines. Go to a reputable wine merchant and speak to a sales representative that you trust. She will most likely be able to point you in the direction of a selection of California Chardonnays that have been barrel fermented and have gone through malolactic fermentation. They need not be from Napa Valley, proper, but many of the more established ones are from that area. The same applies with your search for a Fume-Blanc style Sauvignon Blanc. They have become so popular now, that your local merchant will most likely have several to choose from. Again, ask your knowledgeable sales representative to point you in the direction of one that he knows has been barrel fermented and has undergone Malolactic Fermentation.
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