VIN AU NATUREL?

Modern winemakers are not just ready to put sugar, water, tartaric acid, oak chips or anti-freeze into cheap wine to make it palatable. A group of five wineries in China are now zapping their young Cabernet Sauvignon with high-voltage electricity to age it in minutes, according to New Scientist magazine

And apparently it works. Hervé Alexandre, Professor of Oenology at the University of Bordeaux is quaoted as saying that “Using an electric field to accelerate aging is a feasible way to shorten maturation times and improve the quality of young wine.”

During ageing, wine becomes less acid as the ethanol reacts with organic acids to produce a plethora of the fragrant compounds known as esters. Unpleasant components precipitate out and the wine becomes clearer and more stable. Red wines mellow as bitter, mouth-puckering tannin molecules combine with each other and with pigment molecules to form larger polymers, at the same time releasing their grip on volatile molecules that contribute to the wine's aroma. These reactions take time and need a small supply of oxygen.

The method invented by Xin An Zeng, a chemist at the Guangzou University of Technology, involves pumping the wine through a pipe between two titanium electrodes, using a 600 volt alternating current for three minutes. This increased the ester concentration and broke down some long chain alcohols and aldehydes which give the wine unpleasant flavours. Long periods of electrical treatment create another set of unpleasant tastes. Ten years of research went into discovering the optimum treatment.

The effect has been confirmed by a panel of experienced tasters, and the results have been published in the professional journal Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies Vol 9 p 463. Earlier claims of good effects from microwave and gamma radiation exposed have not been replicated: we will see if this electrical technique works in practice. Personally, I am yet to find a drinkable Chine Cabernet Sauvignon.

JANUARY SALES BARGAIN? 

Perhaps you should add a First Growth Bordeaux château to your shopping basket. The Sunday Times is reporting that the French tycoon Francois Pinault has put Ch. Latour on the market. At the height of the market, the property might have fetched €600 million, but the offer price is thought to be in the range €150-200 million: surely a snip?

M. Pinault has owned Ch Latour since 1993 has suffered big losses in his share holdings in other French luxury brands. It is likely that the buyer will be a consortium of other French millionaires, including Bernard Margrez and Gerald Depardieu.

FRENCH SENATE CLASSIFIES ST EMILION

According to Decanter magazine, the French Senate has voted to add a section to the current finance law to reinstate the eight Chateaux that were demoted in the 2006 reclassification. Then the new ratings can come into force. This will do nothing to improve the quality of the wine from the properties that were down rated, but it may persuade the local authorities to improve their system in time for the 2016 evaluation. For earlier articles on this topic, please see feature