Reduction is one of the most frequent faults in wine and it is nevertheless overlooked.. Discover with Beaux-Vins its origin and how to recognize it.
When it comes to wine failure, the first reflex is to talk about the taste of cork. We wrongly use this anomaly to designate a wine that does not smell good. Knowing how to recognize the bad nose of wine is essential to react adequately to save this precious beverage - and avoid drinking bad wine —.
The study on the reduction of wine is fairly recent since professionals mainly focused on aromas from oxidation - opposite effect —. Half the time, wine defects come from oxidation or reduction and "only" one in three times the defect in your wine is a corky taste.
The characteristic aromas of reduction
On distingue 4 stages of reduction of wine with characteristic aromas :
First stage : the smell of SO² sulfur and metallic notes. The excessive use of sulfite by the winemaker to protect his wine from oxidation and microbial attack can lead to this characteristic odor which irritates and stings in the nose during tasting and especially a huge headache afterwards.
Second stade : the smell of rotten egg and sweat (H2S) also called mercaptan. This odor results from the reduction of excess sulfur - stade 1 - by yeasts during alcoholic fermentation. This stage can appear when exposed to neon lighting as I discussed in the article on " Six things to know about wine storage ".
Third stage : the smell of garlic and onion. We are reaching an irreversible level of reduction and your wine cannot be saved. The excess SO² reacted with the ethanol in the wine to form ethanethiol.
Fourth stage : the smell of cooked cauliflower. Wine reduction is advanced.
The second-stage mercaptan - latin Mercury Captan - is also called thiol. This molecule very similar to alcohol is formed when an oxygen atom has been substituted by a sulfur atom.
Beyond these main smells, we can also find stale smells, of wooden furniture that has taken moisture, match or burnt rubber.
Enemy No. 1 : Volatile Sulfur Compounds
Volatile Sulfur Compounds are molecules forming in a complex way responding to many variables. More and more scientists agree that these molecules are present in wine very early on and that the lack of oxygen only helps them to develop..
If you had to remember anything in the following paragraph, remember that reduction occurs when there is excess sulfur and oxygen deprivation.
The reduced taste can come from, as I touched on above, an excessive intake of sulfur - and go ahead and throw kilos of sulfur into the tank -, but other reasons can be decisive in its development.
The light coming from a neon can also be responsible for this evolution of the wine, but the insufficient supply of oxygen is the main cause. It can also be found in young wines left too long on their fermentation lees., during mechanical harvest, but also the decisive role of certain caps that allow too little oxygen to pass through, such as the screw caps I told you about in the article " In the wine ring: Cork stopper VS Screw cap ".
What to do when my wine has a reduction ?
After opening your bottle and pouring some of its precious liquid, you bend your nose over your glass to discover the aromas of your wine and there horror and damnation ... your wine smells of rotten eggs. Don't go straight to a sink, bottle in hand ! Your wine still has a chance to be saved.
First solution : you have a carafe
A reduced wine indicating an oxygen deficit, it is time to bring it to save it from certain death. Airing with a carafe is the best solution to eliminate these foul odors. If the reduction is small, open the bottle 15-20 minutes before tasting is enough, but the carafe offering a larger contact surface between the wine and the oxygen, the reduction disappears faster.
How long do I have to put my wine in a carafe you will tell me ? Unfortunately, it is not an exact science since it all depends on the degree of reduction of the wine. The important thing is to let your wine rest in the carafe and to taste it regularly to judge. You can wait 2 hours like 48 hours before the smell goes away.
Second solution : you don't have a carafe and you're a nag
No carafe in sight or no desire to wait before enjoying your glass of wine ? The solution is in your wallet or your small coin jar that you never know what to do with.
Take a piece of 1, 2 or 5 cents and go to your kitchen to clean it with clean water and a sponge - for those who have not understood, do not use washing up liquid or other —. All you have to do is put the part directly into your glass. Stir briefly and gently with a spoon and take out your piece to smell and taste - without choking on the room - your wine.
When you drop a coin in your glass of wine, the copper that covers the coins 1, 2 or 5 pennies will react with thiol compounds, which produces copper sulphide crystals which have the advantage of being odorless.
If, like a brand of rillettes, "we don't have the same values", this trick also works with a silver spoon.
Jean-Nicolas Mouretin
Read also :
- What is a closed wine ?
- Flaws in wine : corky taste
- Tasting : how to smell a wine ?
- The origin of wine aromas
- What is the woodiness of wine ?
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