Bar Tricks

Your Mr. Fixit Wine Kit

At the tender age of nine, I looked under the Christmas tree, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but – a Junior Chemistry Set! My dad, who was literally a rocket scientist, thus set me on a path to M.I.T. and thence to my current status as a wine chemistry guru and teacher.

American table wine has a short history. For 30 years after the end of Prohibition, we mostly made fortified port and sherry, which are less prone to spoilage. When the market shifted to lower alcohol around 1970, our inexperience with table wine led to a decade fraught with defects. Thanks largely to research at the University of California at Davis, the soundness of commercial wine has improved substantially.

Nevertheless, you can still come across plenty of flaws. While some of these, such as vinegar and oxidation, are beyond saving, there are a surprising number of defects that can be diagnosed and repaired right on the spot with the aid of a kit composed of ordinary materials.

Pennies From Heaven

Your first move is to start paying cash while shopping. Get in the habit of examining your change for the pure copper pennies minted in 1981 or previous and saving them up in a small purse or pouch. Next time you come across a wine (commonly a young wine under screwcap) that lacks fruitiness or seems a little stinky or disjointed, try dropping your old penny into the glass for a thirty seconds or so. If the culprit is hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg) or ethyl mercaptan (diesel/onion), you’ll see the nose immediately brighten and the mouthfeel become rounder and richer. We call it “asking Abe.” Amaze your friends!

Stepping on the Gas

Another common error small wineries, particularly home winemakers, make is to bottle reds with excess carbon dioxide left over from fermentation or use of protective CO₂ gassing. It shows up as a slight prickle on the palate and a coarse astringency, possibly even some bubbles in the glass. The cause is that CO₂ is an acid, so it increases the amount of neutralizing saliva that comes into your mouth. This can help white wines to be fresh and palate-cleansing, but with reds, the salivary protein combines with the wine’s tannins, producing a sandpaper-like coarse precipitate.

The remedy is simply to put your hand over the glass and shake vigorously to drive out the excess gas, resulting in a smoother mouthfeel. You might want to include a paper napkin in your kit to wipe your hand. If you like the result, put the cork back in the bottle and shake vigorously, burping out the gas.

Moldy Goodies

Another reason a small percentage of wines may lack aroma is a tiny trace of a taint called trichloroanisole or TCA. Although historically associated with moldy corks, vast research on clean cork technologies and the switch to screwcaps has greatly diminished the problem. However, wineries are, well, musty. The word itself derives from the dankness of fermented must. Cellars are high in humidity. This atmosphere can foster mildew growth that imparts TCA and related compounds to wines in bulk storage regardless of the closure employed at bottling.

What winemakers fear most is not the obviously mold-tainted wine, but rather when TCA shows up in subliminal quantities not discernable as moldiness per se, but instead as an “aromatic wall,” a sense that the wine has no aroma at all. This can also make the mouthfeel disjointed. Even experts will disagree, some insisting that the wine just isn’t very good. On numerous occasions in judgings, I have requested a second bottle of an entry my panel rejected, only to have it promoted to a gold medal.

To test this, whip out your handy polyethylene sandwich bag and let it sit in the wine for a minute or two. If you’ve guessed right, the aroma should return. Don’t leave it in too long, or the plastic will start to adsorb aromas.

Some Like It Hot

Because our air is so dry, California grapes evaporate water, thus increasing brix (sugar) and resulting in wines that often run high in alcohol. If the label says 14.5%, the law allows a 1% leeway, so it might be as much as 15.4%. These wines tend to produce heat on the palate and bitterness in the finish, particularly in whites and rosés.

Alcohol also impacts the wine’s aroma in two ways. Its heat masks fruity aromas directly by stimulating trigeminal nerve responses (nasal pain). In addition, the solvent properties of alcohol increase the solubility of the esters, thiols and terpenes that comprise wine aroma. These are hydrophobic (water hates them) so a lower alcohol, thus higher water activity, will drive the wine’s fragrant aromas into the glass’s headspace so you can smell them.

The most aromatic wines in the world are the Mosel Rieslings of Germany, which commonly run 8% alcohol. As ridiculous as it seems, a few drops of water can increase aromas and eliminate hotness and bitterness. Heresy, I know, but in many wines, dilution gives richer aromas and more pleasant flavors. Works with whiskey, too.

Another problem with some California wines is their low acidity. I carry a shaker of citric acid with me that I use in such wines just like salt and pepper on my eggs. Any local home winemaking shop will sell you citric acid.

Your Bag of Tricks

So there you go. Your magic penny, a paper napkin, a sandwich bag, an eyedropper for water, and a shaker of citric acid, and you’re ready to practice wine wizardry.

And of course, those items and this article are a terrific stocking stuffer for the wine geek in your family.

Clark Smith is the winemaker for WineSmith and author of Postmodern Winemaking.