Tartaric Acid

Have you ever opened up a bottle of wine only to panic when pulling out the cork, because it looks like it’s covered with tiny shards of broken glass? Fearing an unsalvageable bottle, thanks to poor handling or, even worse, user error, you look even closer. Then on closer inspection, with relief, you discover that it’s not glass, but tiny little crystals that have materialized on the cork.

“Wine diamonds,” as they are known to seasoned oenophiles, are actually crystalized compounds of tartaric acid, reacting with potassium. And rather than serving as an indication of flawed wine, these crystals actually serve as proof that a wine has been less heavily manipulated. Even though these tiny crystals, which form spontaneously when tartaric acid and potassium bind under chilly conditions, are harmless, since many people react out of concern when they see them, certain producers act to ensure that they can never, ever materialize. Read the rest of this entry »

TCA, or 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, has long been a scourge of wine consumers, retailers, producers– practically anyone with any sort of relationship to wine. This chemical, which is formed when naturally occurring airborne fungi come into contact with chlorophenol compounds, causes wines to become corked. Anyone who’s begun to drink wine with regularity knows the phenomenon: with great anticipation, you pop open a new bottle of wine, pour a glass, and stick your nose up to it– only to catch that overwhelming scent of a wet basement.

Estimates vary about the prevalence of TCA tainted bottles: the cork industry reports that only around one percent of bottles are contaminated, but a 2005 test of 2800 bottles at Wine Spectator’s tasting facilities showed that seven percent of the bottles were corked. That’s a lot of tainted bottles. Consequently, winemakers have long sought solutions: from screw-top, “Stelvin” closures, to synthetic corks, to glass closures. Read the rest of this entry »

Studies on the relationship between the price and appreciation of wine are coming in faster than I can process them. Disappointingly, the most recent one that I’ve read doesn’t involve any convoluted mechanisms for consuming wine; I was looking forward to seeing what unconventional procedures the experts would come up with next.

This study has also received more press than the others I’ve seen so far, because it’s at the core of a heavily promoted book called The Wine Trials by Robin Goldstein. I haven’t had a chance to look at the book, but the promotional materials suggests that Goldstein has an agenda to push. Specifically, it appears that he’s looking to make a name for himself by assaulting the conventional wisdom that more expensive wine is necessarily better. Read the rest of this entry »

We were sitting in the square in Sancerre. The company was illustrious, at least for this part of the wine world. We were drinking beer at the Vacheron’s cafe and the Vacherons, Rogers and Mellots — the kings of Sancerre — were all around. That’s when the Harley pulled up. The guy driving it, wearing the leather Harley coat in the June heat, looked like Leif Ericson. His big toothy smile sprouted from his bushy blond/red beard.

That was the first time we laid eyes on Didier Dagueneau. He was in his early 20s. His energy was infectious, his mind that of a whirling dervish. He was brilliant, passionate, wildly stubborn, alternately incredibly generous and wildly obstinate. His genius was born out of childhood anger. Each day when he climbed on the Harley, careening around the tight turns of the eastern Loire’s country roads, he was taking risks few would take in a lifetime. He took the same risks in his vineyards and winery, and those wines remain some of the most astonishing dry white wines we’ve ever tasted — quite certainly the most remarkable Sauvignon Blancs in memory. Read the rest of this entry »