mercaptans [mer-KAP-tuhns]
The result of hydrogen sulfide combining with wine components and producing a pungently offensive, sour odor that can smell like garlic, stale sweat, skunk, or rubber. Mercaptan characteristics in a wine are a sign of careless winemaking and signal the wine’s deterioration. A wine that smells of mercaptans has a pungent, sour odor with any number of offensive characteristics including that of garlic, sweat, skunk, rotten eggs, or rubber. Sometimes this odor can be diminished by aeration.
The New Wine Lovers Companion, 2nd Edition, by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst. Copyright © (1) 2003, 1995 by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst. Reprinted by arrangement with Barron's Educational Series, Inc.