Browsing CategoryWine Science

By Tom Mansell, Science Editor About a year ago, I started my own blog. About six months ago, I became the science editor for this publication. Several years ago, I was a scientist (I still am), but I knew next to nothing about wine culture. Luckily, I read a lot of magazines and websites so that I could learn all about things that didn't quite make sense to me from a scientific point of view. Wine needs to breathe. People say wine is a living thing, right? So living things have to breathe! Getting oxygen into wine actually softens the…

Just-harvested Gewurztraminer at Keuka Springs Vineyard on Keuka Lake By Tom Mansell, Science Editor Photo courtesy of Keuka Spring Vineyards I recently reviewed Sheldrake Point's 2008 Gewürztraminer for my own site, and as I looked over the technical notes, I noticed that winemaker Dave Breeden added acid to the wine. I was curious about that, given the fact that many wines inthe Finger Lakes are supported by their natural acidity. The concept of adding acid in a cool-climate region like this was a bit strange to me. And, the alcohol content on this wine was listed at 13.6%, pretty high…

By Tom Mansell, Science Editor In my last article on ice wine, I talked about how volatile acidity is an important aroma characteristic in ice wine and how it can contribute to peach and pineapple aromas. To conclude our discussion, let's talk about some other famous ice wine descriptors, including honey. For our purposes, it's best to think of ice wine grapes as late harvest (well, really late harvest).  Grapes are left to hang until December, January, and even February until they are frozen on the vine.  During this time, all kinds of physical, chemical, and biological changes are happening…

By Tom Mansell, Science Editor I recently had the opportunity to participate in part of the ice wine grape harvest at Sheldrake Point Vineyards, located on the west side of Cayuga Lake. Ice wine grapes can and should be harvested under specific conditions. Sheldrake Point winemaker David Breeden likes to harvest between 12 and 18 degrees Fahrenheit, but it's a delicate balance. In frozen grapes, some of the water crystallizes into ice, segregating sugars and acids into a more concentrated solution. The degree of "frozen-ness" of the grapes will determine the concentration of the syrupy solution which will be extracted…

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor with Tom Mansell, Science Editor There is energy under our feet, and companies want to access it. The Marcellus Shale formation is about a mile deep, consisting of a rock-bound reservoir that runs through New York and Pennsylvania, among other states. According to experts, it's a natural gas basin that could provide 400 trillion gallons of natural gas. For sake of comparison, that's nearly 20 times the current national output. Crews can access the gas by drilling down — and then horizontally, hundreds of feet below the surface. The shale contains tiny pores where…

One stinky bug: The Asian ladybeetle (Photo courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service) By Tom Mansell, Science Editor Have you ever picked up an ant and squished it between your fingers? In some cases, the ant has the last laugh, leaving your fingers with a sickly sweet, pungent odor sometimes described as "rotten coconuts." Ants secrete all kinds of different chemicals for communication, stress, antibacterial, antifungal and many other reasons. Unfortunately, this is also true of insects in the vineyard.  One particular insect can secrete a chemical so potent, as little as one bug per liter of juice can ruin…

By Tom Mansell, Science Editor Have you ever smelled grape juice? Not Concord or Niagara juice but grape must that's about to become wine? It doesn't smell like much. It's kind of like fresh mown grass. How does this relatively un-aromatic juice evolve into complex, aromatic wine?  Most everybody's grapes are in (except for the ice wine grapes) and it's now time for winemakers to figure out how best to turn their grapes into quality wine. Surprisingly, magic is not involved.  Now in the spirit of Harvest Winespeak last month, In this edition of Winespeak, we'll explore some terms and…

Artists' rendering of the methyl anthranilate molecule, responsible for "foxy" aroma in grapes and wine By Tom Mansell, Science Editor Interspecific grape hybrids (hereafter: hybrids) were initially bred in the late 19th century in response to phylloxera, an American grape pest that migrated across the ocean to Europe and began to decimate the less-resistant vinifera vines, almost wiping out wine production. Since an American pest was the problem, breeding vinifera with American vines was a potential solution (rather the American way, eh? Screw something up halfway around the world, then try to fix it?), and the result was original French…

 A destemmer awaiting clusters (Photo courtesy of Ramón Mira de Orduña Heidinger) By Tom Mansell, Science Editor Anyone with any involvement in wine knows that the world of wine has a unique vocabulary.  In a wine context, words like flabby, austere and even "mineral," take on meanings far from their dictionary definitions. Additionally, like in any trade, specific techniques for producing wine lead to specific names for such techniques.  While many people in the trade read this blog, I'm willing to bet that the majority are interested wine drinkers. In this edition of what I hope will become a recurring…