“Greasing” the wheels

You have undoubtedly heard of or at some point seen the wine aroma wheel, but what about the Brettanomyces aroma wheel?  I have always felt that I had a fairly good understanding of what Brettanomyces is, atleast until recently.  A recent edition of Wine & Spirits Magazine covered the topic of terroir in great detail and hypothesized that Brett and other chemical compounds that are created during fermentation impart greater flavor characteristics on a wine than terroir and all that this encompasses.  The compelling argument made is that if terroir is the primary source of (for ease of argument let’s just say)minerality then grapes should express these mineral characteristics straight off the vine.  This however is not necessarily true.  Minerality is evident in finished wines, but not pronounced in grapes, so what then accounts for these flavor profiles.  Brettanomyces, a spoilage organism,  is one possible explanation.  At a Brettanomyces tasting at UC Davis the chemical compound was broken down and examined.  It was found that while the extreme cases of Brett (4-EP and 4-EG which some describe as “Band Aids” and “ashes”) are considered to be flaws, many levels of Brett have positive impacts on a wine and impart character; character that previously had been attributed to terroir.   (See the floral, spicy, and animal components of the flavor wheel).  These are all qualities that have either been considered to be part of the grape flavor profile OR the terroir/specific region, site, etc where the grapes are grown.  It is certainly reason enough to go back and reexamine some wines that I had previously thought were typical (insert grape growing region or grape varietal here) and see if the typical descriptors are found on the Brett wheel- specifically La Rioja Alta, Bernard Levet Cote Rotie, Duband 09 Cote de Nuit, and Saint Jacques 05 Bordeaux.  Perhaps Brett and I are better friends than I realized.