White Wine Contains A Cat Pheromone

Sauvignon blanc is a white wine with the flavour of gooseberries. It contains a chemical called: 3-Mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol (MMB), which is a thiol. MMB is also believed to be a pheromone in cat’s urine. MMB is derived from felinine, an amino acid in cat’s urine. You could also say, therefore, that Sauvignon blanc contains the same chemical that is in cat’s urine.
A bit of chemistry but not particularly useful information except for the fact that it is quite interesting, I think. We cannot smell cat pheromones unless you are Sarah Hartwell! We can smell the aroma given off by wine. The group of chemicals called thiols contribute to the aroma of Sauvignon blanc wines.
I feel like a glass of Chardonnay all of a sudden……I wonder if the pheromone, MMB, is the chemical in cat’s urine that is impossible to get out of carpets or car seats! It is almost certainly more complicated than that.
Photo (wine) credit: Martin Krolikowski – collage by Michael (merging wine picture and chemical digram for MMB)