FoodBanter.com - View Single Post

Doug Anderson

z (Bruce Sinclair) writes:

> In article >, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> >Bruce Sinclair wrote:
> >
> >> To paraphrase my earlier post, all (or most) reactions that occur in bottles
> >> are considered 'bad'. That's why many/most winemakers are now putting the
> >> vast bulk of their production into screw top bottles. The 'bad' reactions
> >> are reduced, and the wine tastes like they want it to. IME, this is a very
> >> good thing.
> >
> >Not at all. Many reactions that take place in the bottle are desirable.
> > To use the most obvious one, the cross-linking of tannins (by at least
> >two different pathways) leads to the reduction of astringent flavors in
> >red wine and a more palatable beverage for most people. The deleterious
> >reactions mostly involve the unwanted ingress of oxygen, though an
> >ongoing debate concerns whether some amount of oxygen ingress is a
> >positive for the wine. To the extent that they control oxygen ingress
> >more effectively, screwcaps are a positive development in the sealing of
> >wine bottles.
>
> >Mark Lipton
> >(a wine loving Ph. D. chemist)
>
>
>
> Yep ... but ... can the wine maker not allow the aging process in their
> large containers to continue past what they would have before screw tops, so
> that the wine they bottle is the wine they want you to have ?
>
> My understanding is that they now do age past what they would have, and
> because they know there will be very limited changes once bottled, can leave
> it till they think it's ready.
>
> I do note however, that the wine they still bottle under corks is
> predominantly reds.

The first question you ask assumes that the aging that takes place
before bottling has the same effect as the aging that takes place
after bottling.

It also assumes that (if the winery thinks that a certain wine peaks
after 7 years) they can afford to hold onto it for 7 years, aging it
just right, and then putting it into bottles at the perfect moment,
stopping aging at that moment. All fairly questionable.

As to your second paragraph, most wine that is sold in the world is
sold shortly after the retail establishment purchases it, and is drunk
the night the consumer purchases it. So if it gets any aging at all,
it is typically aged by the winemaker. But for that small percentage
of wine that really does get aged before drinking, I didn't know that
winemakers are aging it more on premises than they used to. I'm
interested in the source of that statement.

It does seem true that a screw cap changes what happens (mostly for
the better in my opinion), but it doesn't prevent aging in the
bottle.