Comments on: Some thoughts on bottle variation

By: Glass Bottles

Glass Bottles — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:44:22 +0000

Very interesting article, thanks for pointing this out Steve. I’ve heard about bottle variation, but only when it comes to beer. Either way I usually like to stick to bottles that are darker and don’t allow too much light to penetrate.

By: steve

steve — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:06:35 +0000

Arthur, that would be definitive proof. But it doesn’t mean that bottle variation can’t occur over time. It just makes it more complicated to prove, as someone could always say that the taster was the variable, and not the bottle.

By: Arthur, winesooth

Arthur, winesooth — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:24:59 +0000

I think BradK makes an excellent point:

Bottle variation would be the phenomenon of several bottles of wine tasting differently at *exactly the same moment in time*.

By: BradK

BradK — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:40:13 +0000

The warmer a bottle of wine, the faster aging reactions will take place.

Corks vary widely and are highest on my list as culprit for bottle variation. Changes in temperature will cause thermal expansion and contraction of the wine. I suspect that will cause changes in pressure in the headspace of the bottle and more (gas) transfer through the cork.

Unfiltered wines treated only with SO2 can have many types of survivors, including Saccharomyces, Brett and lactic acid bacteria. Likely, they will not be in best of health. Unhealthy organisms can do some stinky things.

Wines seem to go through phases over time. Perhaps, Steve’s example wasn’t bottle variation?

By: Clark Smith, appellationamerica.com

Clark Smith, appellationamerica.com — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:22:29 +0000

A few facts about lightstruck wine. First of all, the cause is light energy activating riboflavin as a reducing agent, and causing in white wines a cascade reducing reaction which is quenched in reds before it gets going, but in whites quite quickly (five minutes is enough in bright sunlight)produces a mix of sulfide compounds, mostly familiar like H2S (rotten eggs), ethyl mercaptan (diesel or onion), and diethyl mercaptan (canned asparagus), but also some exotic ones like ethyl methyl mercaptan, which smells like wet wool, almost a mothball odor and quite different from TCA.

Many dark bottles don’t offer much UV protection — it takes a special UV coating which much cheap glass is less likely to use in these days of Chinese imports.

It is extremely rare that a shipment of wine is lightstruck. It usually happens on the retail shelf or after purchase.

In my view, the most important sources of bottle variation are environmental influences of light and heat. Given perfect handling and storage, however, the cork closure is the main culprit.

Still, the way a wine is perceived in reaction to the environment in which it is serve — not just the food but the music, the mood, the lighting, the background aromas — have much to do with creating an harmonious experience or a dissonant one in which the wine shows us its best, and these influences are almost never discussed.

That does not mean we should taste and judge wines ganged into groups in the sterile environment of current vogue. Nothing could be further from the consumer experience.