Honest question, fruit flies......

WINE TALK
1

So I was tasting wine the other day in an outside setting and there were fruit flies in the bottles of wine we were drinking.
I’m ghetto so I just pick them out and moved on.
Someone had mentioned in all seriousness that they couldn’t get past the smell of the fruit flies…???
They said the smell that they give off is a citrus aroma and Pine.
I looked at them like they were BSing me but they were serious, they claimed that they could smell the aroma that a fruit fly lets off in wine. WTF?

Has anyone ever heard of this?
Has this happened to anyone else?

2

They are attracted to yeast so when they get to the wine they drown. When they die, they release an enzyme that can be offensive to some people. When drinking outdoors, put the cork in the bottle to keep the flys out. See article for more details.

3

A single fruit fly landing in a glass of wine ruins it for me. I can’t smell anything else other than their secretion.

4

I guess the majority of time I’m drinking light summer whites or roses when fruit fly season has been in full swing so maybe I’m not concentrating enough and smelling this aroma…

5

I have minimal experience with fruit flies in wine but from what I read, some people are very sensitive to the odor.

6

It might be a difference in physiological sensitivity.

7

Seriously! That seems incredible to me. [worship.gif] I want to blindtest you on a single fruit fly wine vs no fruit fly wine. neener

8

It’s even worse when the fruit flies put on lipstick–or “worser” yet, when they wash themselves in cologne or perfume to smell better.

9

With all seriousness, I’d bet money I’d get it right. Lets do it! I need to buy a new AC unit for the winery before summer and maybe this is how I’ll raise the money.

10

Fruit flies are everywhere during harvest and crush; I’m not sure how you’d avoid them entirely. I’d suggest intensive counseling coupled with de-sensitivity training to get past/over this princess-and-the-pea affliction. neener

11

With the right production ethic, you may have a blockbuster Berserker video in the making here. Do it!

I’ve never noted a sensitivity and have probably inadvertently consumed a number of fruit flies over the years. This is the first I had heard of it.

Cheers,
fred

12

Yeah it drives me crazy but it is what it is. When they are around I put something on the top of any glass if its not in my hand.

13

+1 the smell released is vegetal and green note combined with a chemical note. I’ve had times where I didn’t even look for the fly until after I smelled the wine.

I would gladly do the blind test.

14

So in all seriousness, does this effect the wine in winery during crush then?
Is this a ‘pyrazine’ issue?

15

So why isn’t it an issue with winemaking? There are always millions of fruit flies in wineries during crush–in open fermenting vats, etc, and I’m sure there are fruit fly products in all of the wines we drink. Why isn’t there a big storm about fruit flies like there has been about lady bugs? Do their product degrade and not end up in the final bottled wine?

16

Luckily, not really. The smell is only given off when the fruit fly dies/drowns and when you have fermenting must the flies are mostly just hanging out on the cap and don’t die. A few die but I guess the volume of wine is enough that there is no lasting issue. Anyway I keep fruit flies away with a cover so that I can avoid VA/Ethyl acetate issues.

When I go to a winery that doesn’t cover their fermentations I can smell that smell but I guess its only temporary because Ive never opened a wine and smelled it.

17

I think its a combination of much higher ratio of wine to fruit fly death smell and also it likely blows away. But IMHO I think fermentations should be covered anyway to avoid fruit flies being a vector for VA.

18

…and you know how the ag and market inspectors feel about fruit flies.

19

Yes, besides dying in the wine they are a huge vector for VA.

-Al

20

The more, the merrier?