WTN: Does anyone know what's wrong with this Volnay?

Volnay 1995 – Réyane et Pascal Bouley – Alc. 12.5% .
This bottle was a big disappointment. The colour was still quite vigorous but the texture slightly cloudy. The nose was decidedly weird with a slightly rancid cheesy note obtruding in the more usual sour cherry. At first the palate seemed rather better with some quite lively red fruit and lively acidity although the finish was somewhat dry like in a lot of 95s. However as the wine breathed, the cheesy streak became increasingly apparent on the palate as well as stronger on the nose. Not a bottle to finish .

It is not the first time that I have met this in a Burgundy but rarely in any other wine type; the previous time which sticks in my mind were two bottles Griottes-Chambertin 97 from Ponsot opened at Christmas . Does anyone know what is going on?

My purchase from this estate beats that from Château d’Epiré in Savennières as one of my worst. At the time R & P Bouley were * producers in the RVF guide and Coup de Coeur winners in Le Guide Hachette. In my lot there was this villages Volnay which has never given much, though the cheesy streak is new as far as I can remember; then there was a generic Bourgogne 95, a *** and Coup de Coeur winner in Hachette, which stayed tightly undrinkable through to the last bottle; only Volnay Santenots 94 was really acceptable if not outstanding. This was a lesson to trust my own palate rather than guides.

[David M. Bueker]

Sounds like some kind of bacterial contamination.

Rancid cheese is not a descriptor that brings any particular flaw to mind.
Rancid butter, OTOH, might indicate unusual levels of diacetyl which can be caused by acidulation with citric rather than tartaric acid. During malolactic fermentation, citric acid is often converted to diacetyl by malolactic bacteria; tartaric is not.
I am not familiar with this producer and have little experience with that vintage so I have no idea if this is even a remote possibility.
Also, I have heard that Ladybird taint can make wine smell like bad peanut butter (Ladybird beetles), but have no experience with that either.
And since this wine has been in bottle 14-15 years, it could be a combination of things - or not.
Actually, David is probably right.
How about that for helpful?
Best, Jim

Thanks for that David and Jim. I tried to edit in the the finish was rather short but got frustrated by some glitch. I'll try again now.

It all seems quite complicated Tim. Maybe forumites might like to look through this (faults, aromas)>>>

http://www.wine-pages.com/guests/tom/taste5.htm

Hi Tim,
Hexanoic acid formation. This is the acid that gives Limburger Cheese its “stink”. As David and Jim pointed out it is likely formed when a certain yeast strain or spoilage organism is (or was) present. Your wine sounds like it was just at your threshold to pick it up. It makes a lot of sense when you say, “as the wine breathed the cheesy smell streak became increasingly apparent…” , for in liquid form as the solution warms the “stinker” it gets. If you tried chilling the wine the odor might of “diminished” somewhat.

Salute

...Also, I have heard that Ladybird taint can make wine smell like bad peanut butter (Ladybird beetles), but have no experience with that either...

Also known as Asian Ladybugs. They look like regular red ladybugs, but are orange with more numerous, smaller dark dots. I recall coming home from work one afternoon in 1998 or 1999 and the back of my house was covered with them. That year the ladybug taint was prevalent in the wines from just across the river, in Niagara, Ontario.

It all seems quite complicated Tim. Maybe forumites might like to look through this (faults, aromas)>>>

http://www.wine-pages.com/guests/tom/taste5.htm

Bob, thanks for posting that link. It is probably the best explanations of aromas which I have seen.

Thanks for everyone for the contributions. There definitely seems to have been faulty wine-making here, unless ladybirds in the vineyard are to blame. I've never heard of that being a problem in French vineyards, but perhaps.....