“People come to me and say, ‘My wine stinks. What happened?’” Langstaff can read the stink. Off-flavors – or “defects,” in the professional’s parlance – are clues to what went wrong. An olive oil with a flavor of straw or hay suggests a problem with desiccated olives. A beer with a “hospital” smell is an indication that the brewer may have used chlorinated water, even just to rinse the equipment. The wine flavors “leather” and “horse sweat” are tells for the spoilage yeast Brettanomyces.”
