Brettanomyces in the electric chair

Since the beginning of this century, the IFV (l’institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin) has been carrying out research at its stations in Beaune, Bordeaux, Nîmes and Nantes to try to find ways to deal with the spoilage yeast Brettanomyces, generally known as Brett. (There’s more information on this mostly unpleasant and unwanted type of yeast in the Oxford Companion entry.)

Even though there is today far greater understanding of the causes of Brett and its consequences in wine – volatile phenols that in extreme cases smell unpleasantly of stables or elastoplast, with lots more in between...