Wineology

Terroir wine. How does that work?

Wine, oxidation and sulfite

Decanting and carafing wine.

Cork or screw cap?

Terroir wine. How does that work?

We start with Terroir, a beautiful word from wineology. Terroir simply means terrain in French. But in the world of wine it is a concept surrounded by a lot of mystique. With a terroir wine you can taste the typicity of the soil in particular. Is that true? Opinions are divided on that. And in the world of wine there is much discussion. But terroir in any case stands for a collection of factors such as soil composition, (micro)climate, altitude, position in relation to the sun, hours of sunshine, drainage. In short, for everything that has to do with the vineyard.

Vine must fight

It turns out that wines become more beautiful when the vine has to fight for its existence. So the soil should not be too fertile and some water scarcity ensures that the plant roots deeper in search of water and dissolved food. The minerals that are absorbed in this way help to form all kinds of aromas and flavors. For example, the Tesch Riesling Löhrerberg (fertile) is fuller than the Tesch Riesling Karthäuser from rotbundsanstein (meager). This is of course higher organic chemistry; new insights are continuously being developed about how this all works in the vineyard and during vinification. Professor Kees van Leeuwen, our man in Bordeaux , has written a very readable book about it: Wine: terroir, technique, sunlight and emotion. It is for sale via perswijn.nl

Oenology: I taste something that resembles sherry! Wine and oxidation         

Wine eventually becomes sour (vinegar, vin aigre = sour wine). Wine oxidizes into vinegar through contact with oxygen. A wine that has been open for too long, has a bad cork or is simply too old, will oxidize. An oxidized wine is easy to recognize. The wine then smells like sherry and tastes flat and lifeless. Oxidized red wines get a dull, brown color and oxidized white wines become yellow-red or brownish. Sometimes a wine is 'over the top', it has then been stored longer than its storage potential. The taste is then often flat with slightly sharp acids. Therefore, always store the wine lying down so that the cork does not dry out and therefore let in too much oxygen. Bottles with a different closure do not have to lie down.

Oenology: Fruit juices and dried fruit contain much more sulphites than wine!

Sulphites occur naturally in plants from the onion family, such as wild garlic and garlic. Sulphites are used as a colouring agent and preservative in food. It has been used in wine since the Romans. And also, for example, to prevent fresh meat from turning brown. Sulphites are salts with a sulphurous oxide (SO₃²⁻ ). They are used in all kinds of food products (E-nrs. 220-228). Sulphites were also used by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians to preserve wine.

Adding sulphites to wine is subject to strict rules. It must be stated on the label. For red wine, the maximum is 160 mg/l and for white wine and rosé, the maximum is 210 mg/l. However, most wines contain much less. Winegrowers who work neatly need to use less sulphites. Those who work extremely cleanly can even make wine without sulphites. This type of wine is increasingly common these days.

For most people, sulfite is a safe substance, certainly in the minimal concentrations that winemakers now use. For some people with asthma in particular, sulfite in wine can have an adverse effect on the airways. It is not clear whether sulfite causes headaches - or hangovers. Scientific research has so far provided little clarity about the causes of physical complaints after drinking wine. It is also useful to know that all kinds of other foods, such as fruit juices, contain much more sulfite than wine. Dried fruit even contains 1,000 mg/l sulfite, about ten times as much as wine!

Oenology: Decanting and Carafing Wine

Decanting is done to separate wine from sediment, the lees. Decant slowly and with a steady hand. Especially if there is lees at the bottom of the bottle. Carafing is done to give a wine air, such as young red wine with rough tannins. By giving the wine a lot of air, the tannins soften more quickly, as happened with an older wine via the cork. Letting the wine 'breathe' with only the cork out has less effect. Swirling it in the glass or pouring it into a carafe works faster. Of course, the carafe must be clean and odorless. Preferably use a carafe with a wide bottom, then as much oxygen as possible reaches the wine.

First taste the wine directly from the bottle in a clean glass and check that it has no ' cork' . Rinse the carafe with a little wine (this is called vinering) and then pour the rest. If you want to separate the wine from the sediment, i.e. decant, remove the capsule from the neck of the bottle completely. Hold the neck above a candle or other light source when pouring, then you can see exactly when the sediment starts to come along. For wines without sediment, which only need oxygen, the capsule does not have to be removed completely. First clean the edge of the bottle with a napkin.

Old wines without sediment should not be decanted or carafed. With older wine, extra contact with air can be counterproductive; after all, it has already had enough air through the cork.

Oenology: Cork or screw cap? Which is better?

More and more wines have a screw cap instead of a cork (or vinoloc , which is a glass cap, or plastic cork). And not just because it is cheaper. You also see the screw cap on expensive wines. Less romantic of course, but there are many rational considerations for it. The most important reason is that wine with natural cork lets oxygen through (oxidation) and therefore sometimes runs the risk of bacterial infections (cork, TCA).

The extent to which the cork allows oxygen to pass through varies from bottle to bottle and depends on the quality and length, among other things. In short: 'cork' is unfortunately unpredictable. When using a screw cap or vinoloc, the risks are reduced to a minimum. This is important for white wines, which must rely on purity and aromatic finesse. The screw cap has another practical advantage. Opening and closing bottles is done in an instant. So you don't have to remember to take a corkscrew with you to the beach, meadow, sloop or 16 square meter ;-]

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