Читать книгу Wine Faults and Flaws - Keith Grainger - Страница 53

A wine that has finished fermentation and been stabilised should be clear and bright. Brightness is a sign of healthiness. Brightness is how light is reflected off the surface of the wine and is related to the pH – the lower the pH, the brighter the wine usually is, as the charge on suspended particles is higher. Clarity is how light is scattered as it passes through the body of the wine, and this is related to turbidity, i.e. suspended particles. If a mature wine that has thrown sediment has been carelessly handled, then there may be fine or larger particles in suspension. This is not a fault per sé, but a natural consequence of the tertiary development of the wine. However, any packaged wine that appears cloudy, oily, milky, or otherwise murky is suffering from one or more faults, for example, refermentation in the bottle – see Chapter 9 – or ropiness – see Chapter 11.

The clarity of wine may vary from clear to hazy, and the brightness from bright to dull. Dullness may well indicate a tired or faulty wine. Wines from the New World often appear brighter than those from Europe. Wines that have high acidity, particularly if tartaric acid has been added in the winemaking process, may appear to be especially bright. On occasions, such brilliance might be an early indicator of excessive acidity, but the taster is cautioned against drawing such a conclusion at this early stage. A young wine that appears dull probably has a high pH (low acidity), which is generally indicative of poor quality and total lack of ageing potential. As wines mature, they lose brightness, and with over‐maturity, they become dull. Dullness may be one of the first indicators of oxidation.