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'Wet dog!'

centralcacyclist

17 years ago

I have heard this discriptor used to describe a wine's nose but had never encountered it personally. It's not a good thing to say about a wine or anything else in my opinion. Franky, the nuances of wine tasting descriptors eludes me much of the time. For me a wine usually either pretty good or pure swill. Once in a while some really lovely wine will cross my path and I will know without question that I am drinking the nectar of the Gods. But last night I met the "wet dog" in the a glass of 2003 Frey Sauvignon Blanc that I picked up yesterday. It tasted better than it smelled, thankfully. But not good enough to finish a glass. Blech. I picked it up because it was an organic wine and I'd never tried one.

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Comments (2)

robin_d
17 years ago
Hello Barnmom,

"Wet Dog" is usually caused by volatile acidity and will only gets worse as the wine ages in the bottle. Fortunately, the VA (volatile acid) in aged wine will evaporate with decanting (where the term "letting it breathe" comes from).

I am very familiar with Frey Wines. They are highly dedicated organic farmers and wine makers. The problem (IMHO) is that to stay true to their direction they don't add any sulfites to their wine. Ater a year or two in the bottle the wines can become inconsistant. I have had some very good Frey wines, but the trick is to find the youngest vintage (older is not always better, despite popular conception). The 2005 Gewurztraminer is due to be released soon, this is my favorite of theirs. Give it a try when you can find it.

Cheers,

Neal D. (Robin's DH)
centralcacyclist
Original Author
17 years ago
It was extremely tart. I didn't see in the way of reviews for the 2003, but the 2004 seemed to have been decent. I like the idea of organic wine due to my own allergy to sulphites. I didn't wake up stuffed up which was nice after a glass of wine.
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