Home › Glossary › Letter B

Brettanomyces

Viniculture
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Brettanomyces is a yeast strain that can produce barnyard or medicinal aromas in wine, often considered a fault but sometimes appreciated.

Detailed Definition
Brettanomyces evokes the wild, untamed, and controversial in poetry. Its polarizing nature mirrors debates over authenticity versus control, nature versus cultivation. Poets may use it to represent the shadow side of creativity, the allure of the unconventional, or the tension between order and chaos, suggesting that what some reject as flaw others embrace as character.
Example
Example in poetry:
Brettanomyces crept into the cellar like a wild yeast, and the poet smelled horse blanket and clove; He wrote of brett as the rustic barnyard note that divided the critics—a fault or a fingerprint?; In her free verse, brettanomyces was the untamed voice, a funky overtone that refused to be sterile; The poet compared the yeast to the disruptive line in a sonnet, jarring yet strangely compelling; She called brett the aroma of memory—old leather, sweat, and the earthy floor of a stable—a taste of the wild
Additional Notes
Brettanomyces is a genus of wild yeast that can invade wine during fermentation or aging, producing characteristic aromas often described as barnyard, horse sweat, leather, clove, or medicinal, and it is generally considered a spoilage organism in modern winemaking, though some traditional styles (like certain Rhône wines and old Bordeaux) incorporate it as part of their complexity; this yeast thrives in low-nutrient, high-alcohol environments and can be controlled through strict hygiene, sulfur dioxide addition, and careful barrel management, but its presence is a sign of either a faulty cellar or a deliberate stylistic choice by winemakers who appreciate its spicy, earthy dimension; in poetry, Brettanomyces offers a metaphor for the wild, untamed element, the unpredictable voice that disrupts the polished surface and adds authenticity, reminding us that perfection is not always desirable and that a "fault" can become a signature of character.
Also Known As
wild yeast barnyard microbe funky ferment
Skip to main content