Lady Bug Taint in Wine? Yes - It's a Real Thing!

Photo by Justin Lauria on Unsplash

There are various type of problems that can occur in the winemaking process that result in the wine being damaged, or tainted.

Some common wine faults include:

• Oxidized wine - Wine which is exposed to too much oxygen can take on orange/brown colors and nutty flavor

• Brett - Caused by a type of yeast, this fault causes wine to smell like a barnyard, hay bales, a sweaty horse saddle, Band-Aids, or a sweaty horse

• Cork Taint - Caused by airborne fungi and bacteria, wine takes on the odors of wet newspaper, a wet dog, or moldy cardboard

• Cooked Wine - When wine has been exposed to too much heat, it can take on a nutty, brown color along with a roasted sugar aroma

• Lightstrike - After exposure to too much UV light the wine may take on the smell of wet wool

These types of damage are sometimes rare (e.g., Brett, Cork Taint) and others are more common than we think (e.g., Oxidation, Cooked wine, Lightstrike). But then there’s Lady Bug Taint!

Lady bugs are quite common in the outdoors and generally thought to be beneficial to plants. The problem comes when Lady bugs remain on clusters of grapes during the winemaking process. When they are in distress, such as being crushed or drowned, their defense mechanism is to give off a smelly compound. This compound can have nutty notes, sometimes compared to roasted peanuts. It can also include odors of molded potatoes, asparagus, rotten peas or green bell pepper. It’s thought that just one beetle per vine can be enough to taint the resulting wine!

While not considered harmful to humans, this Lady bug taint is a real thing. So, as always, if your wine has an off-odor, it’s likely one of many things that can be damaging, including Lady bug taint. Who knew?

Ever Wonder About Cooking Wine?

When a recipe calls for wine, one option is to use ‘Cooking Wine.’ But, have you ever wondered if ‘Cooking Wine” is the same thing as drinking wine?

Well, there is such a thing as Cooking Wine. You’ll generally find it in the grocery store near the salad dressings, the cooking oil and vinegar. But like so many products, Cooking Wine can be many things. It can range anywhere from what you might call an inexpensive table wine to a product that is called “Cooking Wine” that includes salt, sugar and other artificial flavors.

Depending on the dish you are preparing, the salt, sugar and other flavors might work. But, in general, when a recipe calls for wine, I’d suggest using something from the wine aisle, not the cooking products aisle.

A common recommendation is that you shouldn’t cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink. This doesn’t mean you need to spend big bucks on a wine for cooking. There are plenty of wines, generally on the bottom shelf, that sell for $5 to $10 and are plenty adequate for cooking.

My guess is that the recommendation to cook with a wine you’d like to drink has more to do with the quantity of wine used in most recipes. If your recipe calls for a half-cup (4 oz) of wine, that would mean that you’d still have approximately 21 oz of wine left in the bottle. And, since you can’t put the opened bottle back on the shelf or keep it for more than a few days in the refrigerator, you’ll have the rest of the bottle to enjoy with the meal!

So, next time a recipe calls for wine, skip the “Cooking Wine” and choose something from the wine aisle. Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc work great for recipes that call for white wine while a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Merlot will give nice flavor to a recipe calling for red wine.

Cheers!