Black pepper taste and smell?

[crabjoe]

I wanted to mix a Merlot with a mixed berry wine that I had to try and get some more berry aroma from the Merlot. The berry wine had a wonderful smell of berries..

I mixed a bit in a glass to see what it might be like. I didn't measure.. I just poured a glass of Merlot and added some berry wine. Smelled fine and tasted good. So I took a gallon of Merlot and added a 750ml bottle of berry wine to it.. And dang it... it didn't come out anywhere close. The aroma I now get is of black pepper and it's got a spicy taste.

My question is this, has anyone ever heard of something like this happening? Could it be because I added some Kmeta to it, when I didn't need it and I might have possibly over dosed it? I have no idea what a sulfites smells like in wine.

Right now, I'm hoping time in the bottle will mellow it out and either eliminate the pepper aroma all together or at least reduce it.

 

[salcoco]

sulfites would smell like a burned match. Merlot can have plumy, spicy aroma with rich soft fruit tastes. the addition of the berry mix probably brought out the spicy aroma you identify as black peeper. it may age out. in future I would advise bench trials with measured samples and different ratio blends. this may have helped identify the change and provide you with better guidance as to the best blend.
fyi Cabernet Sauvignon is sometimes characterized by a black peeper aroma so it is not inconsistent to see it in another varietal.

 

[crabjoe]

sulfites would smell like a burned match. Merlot can have plumy, spicy aroma with rich soft fruit tastes. the addition of the berry mix probably brought out the spicy aroma you identify as black peeper. it may age out. in future I would advise bench trials with measured samples and different ratio blends. this may have helped identify the change and provide you with better guidance as to the best blend.
fyi Cabernet Sauvignon is sometimes characterized by a black peeper aroma so it is not inconsistent to see it in another varietal.

Thank you