[Ads-l] mousy (wine), 1995, mouse, mouse taint

[Barretts Mail]

It’s been reported to me that “mouse” (perhaps “get/be moused”) is a verb used to describe a particular wine fault, but the report was by a non-native speaker and I cannot find any examples online. I don’t see “mouse/mousy” in the OED, Merriam-Webster or Wiktionary defined with this meaning.

Here are some citations of “mouse” (noun), “mous(e)” and “mousiness”. “Mouse taint” is a common variation.

1. https://www.themorningclaret.com/2017/are-natural-winemakers-in-denial-about-mousiness/ <https://www.themorningclaret.com/2017/are-natural-winemakers-in-denial-about-mousiness/>
Are natural winemakers in denial about mousiness?
Simon J Woolf
7 June 2017

This article says that mousiness is caused either by lactic bacteria or the genus Brettanomyces (Dekkera/“Brett”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brettanomyces <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brettanomyces>).

Woolf has another article about it at http://palatepress.com/2016/04/wine/mousiness-a-primer/ <http://palatepress.com/2016/04/wine/mousiness-a-primer/>.

2. Here’s a development saying that it’s definitely _Lactobacillus_:
http://chateaumonty.com/mousiness/ <http://chateaumonty.com/mousiness/>

citing Tom Stevenson in the 2011 "The Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia 5th Edition”

3. The term goes back at least as far back as 1995:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10575639508043200 <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10575639508043200>
Occurrence of 2-Acetyl-1-Pyrroline in Mousy Wines
Markus Herderich , Peter J. Costello , Paul R. Grbin & Paul A. Henschke
25 July 1995 (date received by _Natural Product Letters_)

Costello’s dissertation (https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/22432/2/02whole.pdf <https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/22432/2/02whole.pdf>) cites himself and others in the 1993 article "Current selection criteria of lactic acid bacteria for malolactic fermentation” (https://awitc.com.au/program/proceedings/eighth-australian-wine-industry-technical-conference/ <https://awitc.com.au/program/proceedings/eighth-australian-wine-industry-technical-conference/>) but I didn’t find a copy of the article and so I don’t know if the word “mousy” occurs. 

4. https://www.aromadictionary.com/articles/mousey_article.html <https://www.aromadictionary.com/articles/mousey_article.html>
Richard Gawei
Somellier, A Mouse Must Have Wee'd in My Wine!
undated

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Ask winemakers' what they consider to be the most revolting of wine faults, and I'd bet a large number would put "mousiness" top of their list.

Mousey taint is a microbiological fault….
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5. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/jf0528613 <https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/jf0528613>
Mousy Off-Flavor:  A Review
Eleanor M. Snowdon, Michael C. Bowyer, Paul R. Grbin, Paul K. Bowyer
8 August 2006

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Although mousy off-flavor occurs infrequently in wine, it can be economically disastrous to the wine producer as, at worst, it can render the wine unpalatable or, at best, decrease the quality of the wine resulting in a lower sale price. Wines infected with either lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (particularly heterofermentative strains) or Dekkera/Brettanomyces yeast can potentially produce mousy off-flavor. There are three known compounds that cause mousy off-flavor:  2-ethyltetrahydropyridine, 2-acetyltetrahydopyridine, and 2-acetylpyrroline.
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6. https://www.alicefeiring.com/blog/2015/06/the-trouble-with-mouse-taint.html <https://www.alicefeiring.com/blog/2015/06/the-trouble-with-mouse-taint.html>
The Trouble With Mouse (Taint)
Alice Feiring
24 June 2015

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I'm just sick of mouse taint. Sick of it I tell you. Mouse taint is (to me) that awful, noxious rodent breath at the finish of a wine.
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Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
Formerly of Seattle, WA
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