wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (08/15/85)
A couple queries: Re wines opened too young to check them out -- can such a wine be rebottled and stored away for continued aging? (Perhaps by putting the untasted part in a half-sized bottle and recorking it [accepted that this probably needs a machine to do well], and putting it back in the cellar? Or will the one-time opening, decanting, etc., have had such an effect that a) it will not age from then on, at least properly; or, b) even though it will age it will have been altered in such a manner that it is no longer representative of the rest of the bottles that have aged untouched, so it could not be reliably checked again later as a test of the batch?) This wouldn't be worth the trouble for a cheap wine, but I could see it for something that cost, say, $20+ per bottle. Re beers, exotic and imported or regional bought elsewhere -- my first thought on reading the posting of the person who disliked the Anchor beer he bought at a "local liquor store" away from the Bay area was that he got an overpriced but spoiled pack of beer. Would not that explain his antagonistic reaction? There is a local store here (St. Louis) with hundreds (or so it seems) of imported beers. They cannot have much turnover for much of this stock -- I'm sure much of it is old and spoiled and not representative of the label. Yet I know of no way to determine this prior to purchase, and, then, aftwrwards, how to tell if the beer is really spoiled or it is a type you don't like, or a flavor you don't agree with... This problem keeps me from trying many different beers. Are there some generic rules about bottled or canned beers, in terms of age? Is any beer over "n" months old likely to be undrinkable, especially if it spent 3 months of that in a ship and sitting on a dock in the sun? Regards, Will Martin UUCP/USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
mae@weitek.UUCP (Mike Ekberg) (08/16/85)
I don't think you will have any luck with your opened wine. Winemakers have a hard enough time excluding the yeast which makes vinegar from alcohol. But it may depend on the alcohol and sugar level, both of which act as preservatives in high concentrations. So if it is a French Sauterne it may survive :-}. This leads me to ask a related question I've been wondering about for a while. My wife and I like to drink French wine alot, which usually comes in 750 milliliter bottles. Ususally, we can't finish the bot, so it goes into the fridge. By the next day, the wine is already partly vinegar. However, California wine usually stays good in the fridge for several days. My question is: Is the California's wine fridge-staying power due to it's (usually) higher tanin and/or alcohol content. Or is it due to some manufacturing process, eg. better filtration? BTW, On your opened bottle, you might try aereating the wine by decanting into another container and letting it sit for a while. I remember an issue of Vogue where the author was suggesting that young Bordeaux should be left opened for hours before drinking. And finally, if the wine does 'turn', you've got some fine makings for salad dressing. Mike Ekberg @cae780!weitek!mae
mfe@leadsv.UUCP (Mark Ellson) (08/17/85)
I believe one of the major auction houses (Sotheby's?) sponsered an event in
New York City where people could bring in their old bottles of wine, and
sample them to see if they are still good. The way this was done was to top
the bottle off with nitrogen to force out the air, and then a fresh cork was
inserted in the bottle. Obviously not something which everyone can do at
home, but these people knew what they were doing, so it is possible to
recork an opened wine.
Mark Ellson
ihnp4!amd!cae780 \
>!leadsv!mfe
ucbvax!sun!sunncal/jerem@tekgvs.UUCP (Jere Marrs) (08/19/85)
If you open a 750 ml bottle of red wine and expect not to consume it at one sitting, it can be saved by decanting the wine into a saved, cleaned, 375 ml bottle from a previous wine. Save the cork which you have removed with an "Ah So" cork remover that doesn't put a hole in the cork. Decant the wine such that it does not splatter in the bottle to avoid mixing in oxygen. Replace the cork with the "Ah So" and replace on your cellar shelf. It can age nicely for years to come if it's done carefully. The danger to opened red wine (and white, for that matter) is oxidation. The oxygen can oxidize the flavor elements (phenols and such) and the color elements. The ethanol can also oxidize into acetaldehyde whose aroma is unmistakeable in wine. The color can go from a red or purple-ish color to a brick-like color indicating oxidation. Color is not the best criterion of oxidation spoilage as old, rounded-out and smooth vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon can have a brick color and be delicious. In a young wine, it is an index of probable premature spoilage. Placing the wine in the refrigerator (corked) should slow the spoilage rate considerably. Be sure, of course, to warm it to about 18 degrees centigrade before quaffing. The formation of vinegar, if it's going to happen, takes place during the fermentation of the original juice while there's still sugar to work on. The vinegar, if it occurs, is due to the action of acetobacter which is carried to the fermenting must by the fruit flies. The formation of vinegar is a bacterial action and not a yeast. If the wine is fermented to dryness, and has at least 10% alcohol, it is *very* unlikely that vinegar will form since the alcohol at that level will kill the acetobacter. That's why many low-alcohol German wines can bacterially spoil. Doubtless what you detect as vinegar is the acrid odor of acetaldehyde. Salad dressing made from oxidized wine would be unpalatable. The aptitudes of French wines VS American wines for oxidation, if there is any difference, would be due to different amounts of residual sulfur dioxide in the wine. It is possible that US wines have higher amounts than French wines (at bottling), but I doubt it. Actually, I never have any French wines left over to determine that. Aeration of wines is a subjective issue. There are differing opinions. My integrated feeling about it is that if the Cabernet is quite young and tannic, uncorking the bottle for a period of time will enhance the aromaticity of the wine considerably. If it's a very recently released Cabernet, decanting with splashing (avoided above) can help also. A Cabernet that has benefited from bottle age should be breathed very little, if any. A French red Burgundy or an Oregon Pinot Noir should not be breathed at all, since their flavor elements are subtle with great finesse. Jere M. Marrs Tektronix, Inc. Beaverton, Oregon tektronix!tekgvs!jerem
ken@turtlevax.UUCP (Ken Turkowski) (08/19/85)
In article <256@weitek.UUCP> mae@weitek.UUCP (Mike Ekberg) writes: >... Ususally, we can't finish the bot, so it goes into the >fridge. By the next day, the wine is already partly vinegar. However, >California wine usually stays good in the fridge for several days. Several years ago, one of my officemates and I bought a 36-case of "split" bottles of wine from Pieroth (now called Emmisary). They use these bottles when they come to your house for a sampling, and three to four of these can hold 750 millilitre's worth of wine. There is a screw-on aluminum cap which can be reused, as long as it doesn't get caught in the garbage disposal. One can fill up the bottles to the top, thereby eliminating the air, and keep the unused wine for weeks without it turning to vinegar. -- Ken Turkowski @ CADLINC, Menlo Park, CA UUCP: {amd,decwrl,hplabs,seismo,spar}!turtlevax!ken ARPA: turtlevax!ken@DECWRL.ARPA