Animal notes in the wine

“Animal and leathery” flavors can on the one hand be part of grape varieties or assemblage-specific aroma complex, for example, contains the bouquet of ripe Syrah animal sounds (down to notes, which remind us of wildlife or offals, etc.), Sangiovese often resembles more or less intensively on horseback, and blends of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, and possibly other varieties, depending on the terroir, animal odor components also have. On the other hand, those flavors are formed or enhanced by barrel aging (if not the toasty aromas of new wood to be very much dominated) and longer bottle aging.


Clearly favors the expression of barrel aging animal-leathery aroma components in wine bouquet. The phenomenon is more evident, perhaps even until the faulty hard, if used barrels (barriques, but also large oak barrels) are used. In repeated barrels sit filled wine remains firmly in the cracks between the staves and can be removed only partially, even with good barrel cleaning. The problem would be exponentially with defective barrel also still nursing. New drums have little or only marginally, however, lead to the formation or intensification of animal sounds. However, there is some new barrels in the areas of origin, which tend to crystallize, animal notes, show increased.

Animal notes in the wine are not always a negative thing. Unless they intrusive or fit respectively. “Belong” not to the wine type (for example, of course, has a smell of horses Vaud Chasselas lost nothing). Such wine aromas are ultimately a matter of taste and are not valued equally by all consumers. People who prefer fruity wines are generally reject a mature wine from Cornas (northern French Rhone Valley), or a developed St-Emilion, perhaps just because they resisted the aroma from purely personal motives.