The Taste of Pesticides in Wine: With a Small Guide to Recognize Pesticide Flavors | Jérôme Douzelet

Wine, as a fermented product, has unsuspected detoxifying virtues when untreated. But conventional viticulture is among the biggest consumers of pesticides in the world. These substances intoxicate us in the long term and, due to their close chemical proximity to natural aromas, distort the taste of wines. This is what the authors of this book show, where we also discover that it is possible to learn to recognize the taste of pesticides, in order to then avoid products that contain them. In fact, they proposed an unusual experience to cooks and winemakers: tasting pesticides diluted in water at the doses where they were identified in wines. A range of new tastes and sensations emerges in the brain, gradually allowing the detection of pesticides. A "Little Guide" dissects the characteristics, both in aroma and taste, of eleven of the most common pesticides in wines. This book is not an oenological guide. It is rather conceived as an original tool, accessible science for all, advocating for a search for well-being and healthy eating that involves the eradication of harmful chemical substances. Jérôme Douzelet, responsible artisan cook, is also an administrator of CRIIGEN. Together, they have already published with Actes Sud Hidden Poisons or Cooked Pleasures (2014, Chapitre Nature Prize 2015). Gilles-Éric Séralini, professor and researcher at the University of Caen, specialist in GMOs and pesticides, received the International Whistleblower Award in 2015, and the Theo-Colborn Prize in 2016 for environmental health in the United States.