By Rick VanSickle
It wasn’t long after the first wines from the 2001 vintage were released that they began causing a big stink in Niagara.
As wine critics of the day, a far larger and more critical group of journalists than what exists today, began reviewing the wines, the taste of cooked spinach and rancid peanuts began to emerge in an alarming number of them. The cause was from an infestation of nasty Asian ladybugs in the late summer of 2001.
The whiff of ladybug is not harmful to one’s health, but the wine industry wasn’t thrilled at having to hold back a million litres of wine it considered spoiled by the bug’s aftertaste.
Konrad Ejbich, who was president of the Wine Writers Circle of Canada at the time, told CBC Radio that “it’s a bad news story for an industry that was expecting an excellent vintage from the 2001 crush. He also said it could be financially crippling to some small Ontario wineries.
The biting Asian ladybugs arrived in late summer of 2001, their numbers torqued by an unusually plentiful supply of tiny, green, soybean aphids, the ladybugs’ favourite food. When the soybeans were picked, the ladybugs sought out other food.
The result was that a taste of ladybug juice found its way to the vineyards, the grapes, the fermentation tanks and ultimately the wine from the grapes of 2001. When frightened, ladybugs secrete a strong, foul liquid, which contains pyrazine.
The Vintners Quality Alliance of Ontario and LCBO issued a statement saying it had directed winemakers to withhold from sale any wines where the taint “was significant enough to mask the varietal characteristic expected of the wine.”
Many wineries of the day refused to believe their wines were impacted by the ladybugs and released their wines into the market anyway. Ontario wine writers roundly denounced the tainted wines in story after story until wineries were forced to dump the tainted wines and take their losses.
It was a unique year, a disappointing one to be sure, that would never be repeated. Once the Asian ladybug was identified as the culprit, winemakers were able to solve the problem with modern winemaking equipment.
Meanwhile, a year prior to the ladybug taint vintage, Malivoire’s first Ladybug Rosé was released. The wine arrived on shelves with a cute ladybug trademark as part of the winery’s logo going forward on every wine made at the Beamsville winery.
The ladybug used as Malivoire’s trademark is the far friendlier red-and-black variety, native to Canada, and not the offending Asian ladybug that caused the big stink in 2001. “This is important to point out,” said Malivoire, “because only a couple of years later, the beetle’s friendly reputation was bruised by the arrival of an unfriendly newcomer.”
Because of the controversy, Malivoire removed its trademark logo on the 2001 rosé and bravely re-instated it the following year. As Malivoire gets ready to release its 2023 vintage of the iconic Ladybug Rosé, here is the full story behind how the logo was born and how it dealt with the ladybug taint controversy in 2001. Note, we have reviews of both the current 2022 vintage and soon to be released 2023 vintage below.
How the ladybug logo outlasted controversy
As written by Malivoire:
“Our vineyards have begun to transform with the arrival of another spring. Freshly trimmed vines give evidence that water is again pulsing from their roots. As other life returns, there’s one special harbinger of spring we look forward to seeing again. It’s the tiny red ladybug, whose image has quietly hovered over the logo on our wines since they first appeared.
“The inspiration that led to the ladybug’s adoption as a trademark of Malivoire Wine did not come from the screen of an artist. It began when a young girl, the daughter of our first winemaker, was present for a demonstration of our first rosé. Perhaps inspired by the rosé’s bright red hue, she wished it could be called “Ladybug.” Also present, and intrigued by the youngster’s imagination, winery founder Martin Malivoire hand-sketched an outline of a ladybug and saw there the makings of a trademark.
“There were many things to like. The ladybug would be an attractive and appealing image, being almost universally regarded as a “good” insect. Moreover, the new company had already committed to environmental guardianship. The ladybug, as a beneficial member of the natural environment, would represent this simply, with a hint of whimsy that seemed appropriate for a quality-of-life entity like a winery.
“The very first Ladybug Rosé, from the 1998 vintage, appeared the following year. By that time the ladybug trademark, professionally reproduced, had been fully adopted.
“The ladybug our trademark embraced was, and is, the friendly red-and-black variety, native to Canada. This is important to point out, because only a couple of years later, the beetle’s friendly reputation was bruised by the arrival of an unfriendly newcomer. Threatened by crop damage from aphids, soybean growers, mostly in the southeastern United States, had been importing and releasing “Multicoloured Asian Lady Beetles” (or MALBs) since the early 1900s.
“Distinguishable by their orange colour (unlike the red native species) and valued for their voracious appetite, they were rarely seen in Canada until 2001, when they followed a migrating aphid population into Southern Ontario. Here, they became especially troublesome in vineyards, because their secretion of methoxypyrazines, even in small amounts, was highly detrimental to the flavour of grapes and, by extension, wine.
“So negative was the public reaction to ladybugs in general that we, at the urging of the LCBO, removed the Ladybug name and image from our by-now iconic rosé, which went on sale under a generic Malivoire label.
“Fortunately, the alarm was short-lived. Grape growers and winemakers learned how to reduce MALB’s impact, and within a year, Ladybug Rosé was Ladybug again. Over time, the orange ladybug became a faded, sour memory.
“Today, the native red ladybug still adorns all Malivoire wines, and is proudly seen at the winery’s street entrance, at many stations inside the building, on our correspondence, and many other places. Its continual presence is a reminder of Malivoire’s abiding commitment to the environmentally sustainable practices, and the quality of what we make.”
The newest Ladybugs in review
Malivoire Ladybug Rosé 2022 ($17, winery and LCBO, 89 points) — The blend for this rosé is 80% Cabernet Franc, 14% Gamay and 6% Pinot Noir. The nose shows notes of fresh red berries, pink grapefruit and watermelon. It’s bone-dry on the palate at 0.5 g/l of RS and reveals a tangy melange of raspberries, strawberries, citrus zest and red currants all leading to a brisk and vibrant finish.
Malivoire Lady Bug Rosé 2023 ($5.74 for 250 mL cans, 750 mL bottles coming this summer, 90 points) — The components are the same for the 2023 vintage, but the percentages are quite different at 52% Cabernet Franc, 33% Gamay and 15% Pinot Noir. The residual sugar is the same at 0.5 g/l. On the nose look for brambly raspberried, Morello cherries, earthy/savoury notes and subtle cranberries. As noted, it’s bone-dry on the palate with a riot of fresh-picked red berries, tangy citrus and a hint of watermelon. Perfect summer sipper!
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