Sometimes, well most of the time, when I smell and taste things I smell or taste them imagining the scents as a barcode. Each smell or taste (and they always work together) has big flavours and little flavours and hints of this and bangs of that. These all line up in my mind like a barcode with those wide and thin stripes in a line but not in any order. And then I subconsciously label the stripes. Though since I noticed I was smelling in barcodes it has become a damn nuisance as I discover stuff about people that I do not want to know. Man that sounds crazy.
On Christmas night we bottled a little bit of wine from our own grapes. The Vidal Blanc. So we got to have the first taste. And the barcode went wild. The wine is still very young and has a ways to go, but initially my bar code said bangs of grapefruit and banana lumps, with hints of kerosine. I tasted rain and ants. The ants were a sub note. Yikes. And a little early compost. Hmm. The swallow really was citrusy. A bit too citrusy actually as this is supposed to be a sweet wine. Wait, it was horrible. What was going on? 
However my wine was still in shock. After the trauma of bottling, the wine needs to settle. Bottle shock will disturb a lot of flavours. So I had to wait. The colour is good though. I think it really is too young to take out of the carboid. But there is dissention in the ranks. John likes to get the wine off the sediment earlier and let it age in the bottle and I would rather leave it in together with the dead yeast for a few more months, so this is our compromise. I will take notes and we will do a blind taste test in the late summer.
I poured another glass of the newly bottled wine last night and stuck my nose in it and it really is rounding out a lot better after 24 hours of sitting and chilling. The banana taste has shifted to a banana pineapple. The compost has become earthy and the ants have gone. (I hate the smell of ants) The rain is still there though and the kerosene has backed off. Still not very sweet. I was hoping for amber honey notes to go with its colour.
Vidal Blanc wine can sit in a bottle for years so it still has some maturing ahead of it. The next cask will be left for another three months. Then we will taste it and maybe bottle it too.
Bottle shock or not. I know for sure that I picked too early. Even though the sugar levels were right in the grapes they can go higher. Next season I will leave them on the vine longer. Once again impatience got the better of me!
Snow this morning and just above freezing so not too cold. The dawn is white on white. I had better rug up and start feeding out.
c
PS Mama was let out into her field again and had a nice lie down in the sun for a few hours yesterday afternoon. On the mend. I know she hates to be alone but she has done better since I put Mia back in with the calves. Mia is such a space cadet and never sits still. Not conducive to convalescence! Ok time for me to get out there and see what they are up to in the barn. c
The Kitchen's Garden 
66 responses to “Bottle Shock – (there’s a song in that!)”
Barcodes eh? Is this a form of synaesthesia do you think? How very exciting. I wish I had your palate. We got into such a state trying to figure out which was which of our damson gin and sloe vodka the other year, could I taste the difference? the hell I could (said in my best John Wayne no nonsense voice). I love the colour of the wine in your bottles, I hope the barcode comes out right next time you taste it 🙂
oohoo your john wayne voice is great!! You know i looked at that word synaesthesia as I read you comment thinking Oh no is she saying my wine tastes like an aneasthetic? ha ha ha ha. Now I shall have to go and research this.. interesting.. c
If you don’t mind saying, what state are you in? I’m very curious. Love this one by the way. You are a synaesthete. You lucky woman. Wikipedia defines: “Synesthesia (also spelled synæsthesia or synaesthesia, plural synesthesiae or synaesthesiae), from the ancient Greek σύν (syn), “together,” and αἴσθησις (aisthēsis), “sensation,” is a neurologically based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who report such experiences are known as synesthetes.”
Hi Charlotte, I just read Joannas comment saying that too and thank you so much for the reference. I so honestly thought that you all would be like.. ‘Oh I smell stuff like that too!! Doesn’t everyone?”.. maybe I should put my nose in training! I am in Central Illinois. c
Cor! I think I’ll give that one a miss – I’m not keen on the smell of banana, kerosene or compost, and not mad about sweet wine. The penalty for having been a smoker in my misspent youth is that my sense of smell is very dulled. Thanks for the interesting description, though.
I am rather hoping that some time in the tank will help! there is definitely an eek response to the wine at the mo.. c
That reminds me of a French wine smell kit or game, which contains lots of little bottles of all the smells wine can have – it’s fascinating if you can get hold of it.
Lovely to have snow too 😉
I would love to find that kit, i shall look out for one, I remember seeing something like that in a movie once.. c
Great photo of the wine, no matter how it tasted! 😉
And so glad Mama’s on the mend…
i sure am relieved.. sheep die so easily! c
Now, this is the most creative, outrageous, unusual description of wine I’ve ever read. I love how your creative mind things. But ants?
I hate the smell of ants, especially crushed ones. c
The ants’ formic acid, I presume. But I’m with MN-PR: you have given us the most vivid description of a wine I’ve ever seen, too!
As for synaesthesia, which you may very well indeed have, my favorite descriptions of it are in books by the ever-fabulous Oliver Sacks [several of his volumes feature synaesthetes] and by Richard Cytowic [The Man Who Tasted Shapes].
🙂
Oliver Sacks writes about crazy people tho, my favourite is ‘the man who mistook his wife for a hat!’ Oh dear.. c
I´m very impressed with your barcode sniffery thing – clearly I need to drink more slowly to develop any chance of doing this! Glad Mama is slowly on the mend – she has a wonderful nurse. Your weather looks as beautiful as your wine. Winter is all confused here and keeps turning into Spring…my garden is very confused too.
I fixed it, you just go and have a wee lie down darling!.. and remember it is only the first whiff that writes the code..then that woosh and swallow to get the confirmation… all very scientific in my own little wine addled brain.. c
Waiting for your wine should be worthy dear Cecilia, but I should say, I don’t understand very well about wine… Just I like to drink. Good Luck for this… I am so glad to hear about Mama… Would be so happy now… Seems that winter is there… Thank you, Have a nice day, with my love, nia
You have a lovely day too nia, though i know you are at the end of today over there! c
Cecilia, only you could come up with visions of barcodes while testing your wine! I love it! I’ve told my daughter about your blog and yesterday while here I showed her how to get there and she subscribed! She works with the homeless and poor in Lexington and is anxious to start a community garden – loved your posts about that!
that is fantastic .. your daughter signing up.. tell her to make sure she checks the facebook page as that is where we will all share our gardens and info and she might find someone close by to help out! you never know. I need to work out how to make a page so we can pool our resources too..I need to work on that! c
That has to be such a tricky endeavor though. I’m sure it will settle more as it ages.
Fingers crossed. And only our first year so with careful notes we will get better at it. c
Most unusual description of the smell and taste of your wine. As they say, “patience pays”. I can’t wait until the wine meets with your approval and we get the new barcode description.
I hope the barcode says drinkable and pleasant, which will be adequate for the first time! c
Over in Indiana with my wife’s family annual after Christmas get together. Got snow here, a couple inches and still coming down in big puffy flakes. Very picturesque!
Glad Mama is doing better!
The kids will be loving having some snow, especially the puffy flakes!! have fun.. c
What a neat post, c. I love your descriptions of the wines over/under tones. Ants?! That certainly was suprising. Your description of the flavors reminds me of one of my favorite novels. The main character in Dic Francis’s novel “Proof” describes the flavors in wine in much the same way. BTW, the wine looks lovely!
OO i must find that book, I have put it on my list..c
Oh wow, Celi! You are going to be sought after in a very serious manner once Wineries catch a whiff of your abilities! They cannot have you if it means you don’t have time to write!
Yay, Mama…a step at a time is not your forte, but I’m glad you are at least pretending! 😀
That damn ram got into her field and started chasing her, so back into her pen she went. I hope she IS pregnant, maybe he was just checking her.. we will know in a month.. c
I love that you make your own wine! Can’t say that I’d recognize the taste or smell of ants, haha. But I’m pretty bad at wine tasting unless it’s a REALLY strong hint of something distinct.
being able to smell things like that is not always a gift. Sometimes it spoils the fun! c