Amish Country
Well-known member
Stink bugs are the gift that just keeps on giving. These little pests* may now be instrumental in causing price increases in wine produced in areas of the US east coast. It has been busy infesting this area and its numbers are rising. When these bugs feel endangered their defense is to give off a noxious stench. Some say it smells like cilantro (these people obviously hate cilantro). Someone today suggested the smell was reminiscent of sweaty feet. It is a sweet sour smell that may be best described with the technical term: Eeeeeew! When stink bugs are crushed with grapes during the wine making process they give a truly foul taste to the wine. It can so bad that the wine has to be discarded.
To remedy this problem a wine producer I worked with today sorts each lug of grapes by hand as it comes in from the vineyard. Only after the grapes have been dually checked and rechecked by several sorters are they put into the crusher. This extra manual step and labor costs added to the wine making prices may add up to more expensive wines this fall.
*Brown marmorated stink bug
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug
To remedy this problem a wine producer I worked with today sorts each lug of grapes by hand as it comes in from the vineyard. Only after the grapes have been dually checked and rechecked by several sorters are they put into the crusher. This extra manual step and labor costs added to the wine making prices may add up to more expensive wines this fall.
*Brown marmorated stink bug
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug
