Jul. 17th 2009
Wine sediment and decanting
Sediment occurs mainly in red wine but occasionally tartrate crystals (see below) can appear in white and rosé wine – old dessert wine sometimes ‘throw’ a brownish sediment. Such deposits are not an indication of a fault in the wine. In fact most very expensive wine that is made to be aged to maturity – e.g. high class Claret, vintage Port – will throw sediment. This is the result of pigments and tannins breaking down.
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Mar. 16th 2009
Tartrate Crystals – what’s that?
It’s a common misconception that the small clear crystals found in wine (mainly white and rosé) are an indication that the wine is faulty. These sugar-like deposits are often found on the under side of the cork but can be found in free suspension in the bottle or settled at the bottom. They are completely harmless crystals which can form when a wine gets cold.
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