Chapoutier declares petrol aromas in Riesling a "mistake".

http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/ ... chapoutier

The renowned Rhone producer, showing his new range of Alsace wines at Decanter, said ‘Riesling should never smell of petrol. That is a result of a mistake during winemaking.’...

...Chapoutier said that the petrol characteristic, which is often prized amongst Riesling aficionados, is a result of decomposition of the veins within the grape. These veins become more fragile as the grape matures.

The vital aspect of Riesling vinification is the gentlest of pressings, often taking 12 hours, Chapoutier said, so as to avoid breakdown of the vascular structure within the grape.The vital aspect of Riesling vinification is the gentlest of pressings, often taking 12 hours, Chapoutier said, so as to avoid breakdown of the vascular structure within the grape.

I would have to disagree with the first part of this quote. If the second part is correct, then I would no more characterize it as a mistake than using malo-lactic fermentation, allowing botrytis to grow on grapes or oak aging on other grape varieties. If petrol is a desirable result, then it is not a mistake, but a wine making technique.

The Decanter blog "snippet" is a little different than the interview.

http://www.drinksmediawire.com/afficher_cdp.asp?id=8201&lng=2

[David M. Bueker]

There have been 2 very long threads about this on other wine boards, and the upshot is that Chapoutier semi-recanted, saying that it's only when the petrol develops in young wines and is a dominant characteristic is it a flaw. Of course he then rambles on regarding minerality in contradictory ways, so it may just be a case of a famous winemaker shooting his mouth off on a subject he doesn't know well.

That's a bit more reasonable.
But since I'm not a fan of the wines Chapoutier makes in areas (and with varieties) where he has decades of experience, not sure I care about his views on Alsace or Riesling anyway.

The guy is a bl.... attention grabber. I thought this quote on a UK forum quite fair....>

An alternative heading to that article could be "Rhone producer wades into Alsace and reveals his ignorance of the Riesling style".

Another writer thought that......I've spoken with Pru Henschke about this and her view is that this is overwhelmingly the result of vineyard stress and a phenolic compound which she links to sun-burned grapes. It certainly seems more pronounced in hot vintages in the old world - 2003 Alscae and Mosel wines picked this up, in the most part, far earlier than might usually be the case - and in warmer climate southern hemisphere Riesling.

I don't share his sentiment. The petrolly aromas are what I love most about Riesling!

[David M. Bueker]

I don't share his sentiment. The petrolly aromas are what I love most about Riesling!

I wouldn't go that far, but I don't mind a little as a "seasoning" in my Rieslings.

I love that whack of diesel, on the other hand. Our Ontario Rieslings tend to be very tame in that department, but some of the Alsatian ones are just wonderful ... to my taste, anyway.

The more aromatics one-can “pick-up” the more complex and interesting the wine can be. Like David said, everything in moderation, no one element or component dominating. A “flaw” does not necessarily mean a “fault”.

Salute

What irritates me is pontification from a newcomer to the grape variety and the area implying that all the people who have been making and enjoying Riesling with petrol flavours in moderation for centuries are ignorant idiots who don't recognise a fault. The same goes for anti-brett and anti VA zealotry which have a rather longer history. Obviously all three can spoil a wine if out of proportion, particularly with ageing, but IMO can enhance a wine in moderation. A vigneron who does not seek to eliminate them, especially brett and VA, may be taking a risk but, when it works, the results can be magical. Isn't this what artisan, non-industrial, wine-making is all about?

BTW, I accept that some people may genuinely dislike these flavours, though I suspect that many are being taught to dislike them by the ambient demonisation, which has gone a long way with brett. Let's hope the Riesling anti petrol movement can be nipped in the bud.

[David M. Bueker]

During a discussion of this same topic eslewhere, someone commented that they fully agreed with Chapoutier because they did not care for petrol in Rieslings, and were now justified as they had been informed that they were drinking technically flawed wine (paraphrase mine - but that's basically what the person said).

I countered with the following:

An interesting point of view, and one that crystallizes what bothers me about Chapoutier's opinion. He is looking for something absolutely, technically perfect, and that leads to sterility, rather than distinctiveness. It's why I do not enjoy his Rhone wines. They taste more of technically perfect wine making than they do of the Rhone.

Nailed it, David. A friend poured me the 2005 Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc L'Ermite this weekend. Couldn't find a fault with the wine if I had wanted to - nice mouthfeel, reasonable acids, alcohol balanced, fruit moderate, everything in the right place. Just lacked any real character and was completely boring and anonymous.

It's strange, his wines aren't all like that, technical and correct. The Chateauneufs are almost too extravagant to be considered balanced in my book. And the high end red Hermitages ado pack plenty of character as far as I'm concerned.

I think this text from Wikipedia is interesting:

The petrol note is considered to be caused by the compound 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene (TDN),[17] which during the aging process is created from carotenoid precursors by acid hydrolysis. The initial concentration of precursors in the wine determines the wine's potential to develop TDN and petrol notes over time. From what is known of the production of carotenoids in grapes, factors that are likely to increase the TDN potential are:[16]

Ripe grapes, i.e., low yields and late harvest
High sun exposure
Water stress, which is most likely in regions which do not practice irrigation, and there primarily in certain dry vineyard sites in hot and dry years
High acid content
These factors are usually also considered to contribute to high quality Riesling wines, so the petrol note is in fact more likely to develop in top wines than in simpler wines made from high-yielding vineyards, especially those from the New World, where irrigation is common.

Evidently the compound TDN is the result of stress in the vineyard. Interestingly the conditions that create strass often are also benficial for creating a good wine. I find it interesting that the Riesling wines I find have the strongest smell of petroleum are those from Australia, Clare Valley and its neighbours. Grosset's Polish Hill always smells like an old machine shop or standing behing a lorry, even when very young.

Cheers, Anders

Tom Stevenson wrote a nice article “The Petrol Crisis: Trying to Understand Riesling” back in September of 2008.

http://www.wine-pages.com/guests/tom/ri ... petrol.htm

PS there is a Part II

Salute

Tom Stevenson wrote a nice article “The Petrol Crisis: Trying to Understand Riesling” back in September of 1908.

He doesn't look that old!

[David M. Bueker]

Tom Stevenson wrote a nice article “The Petrol Crisis: Trying to Understand Riesling” back in September of 1908.

Wow. I had no idea that Tom was so old.

Tom Stevenson wrote a nice article “The Petrol Crisis: Trying to Understand Riesling” back in September of 1908.

Wow. I had no idea that Tom was so old.

Don't make fun, I'm delighted that there is someone on the wine scene older than I am.

[David M. Bueker]

There's probably someone older than Stevenson. I have no doubt that Tom Hill has been following Stevenson from the very start.

Can’t blame the guy for “striving for perfection” or striving to have “better control” or a “greater understanding” of why wine tastes and smells like it does. Just because he is “striving for perfection” doesn’t mean he doesn’t have “a message” (or his wine is lacking character).

Salute

[David M. Bueker]

Victor,

Have you tasted his wines?

Every wine has “a message”. Better yet I will borrow a phrase from Alan Meadows (Burg hound). Wine “is a messenger”. Every wine has something to say, from simple plonk (the mass produced stuff) to the “artisan” crafted wine (we might not like what they “say” and yes to some they might be “saying the same ole stuff”). The message might focus on “look where I’m grown” and/or “look how I’m made”.

Salute

[David M. Bueker]

Every wine has “a message”. Better yet I will borrow a phrase from Alan Meadows (Burg hound). Wine “is a messenger”. Every wine has something to say, from simple plonk (the mass produced stuff) to the “artisan” crafted wine (we might not like what they “say” and yes to some they might be “saying the same ole stuff”). The message might focus on “look where I’m grown” and/or “look how I’m made”.

Salute

So a message in a bottle, yeah? With Chapoutier's stuff I am usually sending out an SOS.