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by Jillifish on April 22nd, 2005

Jillifish

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Why are some wines aged upside down?

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  • by notmrjohn on April 26th, 2005

    notmrjohn

    Wines are not really "aged" completely upside down. Of course bottled wine should be stored nearly horizontal with the neck lower so that the inside of the cork is covered with liquid to prevent the cork from drying. I presume you mean in the bottle. What is "up" for a vat or a cask? I do know that sometimes after a , um, lengthy sampling of a few bottles I don't know up from down. There is a a step in traditional process of champagne and other sparkling wine making known as "riddling," in which the bottle is stored upside down for a period of time . It's not really aging though it's only for 2 or 3 weeks. Sparkling wine sparkle because there is still yeast in the bottle and the wine continues to ferment, CO2 from the fermentation adds the tiny bubbles. But then the yeast dies and must be removed, the yeast settles into the necks of the upside down bottles which are turned regularly. The necks are then frozen, the bottle uncorked, the pressure pushes the frozen plug of yeast out and the bottles are topped off with the original wine, recorked , and then aged in the traditional near horizontal position, more fermentation takes place during this final aging. Incidentally, wine bottles have sharp shoulders to hold any sediments when pouring, the deep depression in the bottom of champagne bottles is also for trapping sediments and dead yeast as much, maybe more, as it is for strength. ("Pushes the plug out?" HA! Sometimes it SHOOTS it out! POW! "Got ya,Dom Perignon!" The monks used to hold exciting riddling battles in the monastery cellars, the origins of paint ball. Well, maybe not.)

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