Premature oxidation, (sometimes shortened to premox, or POx) is a
flaw that occurs in
white wine
White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without skin contact. The wine color, colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured Juice vesicles, ...
s, when the presumably
ageworthy wine is expected to be in good condition yet is found to be
oxidised
Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a d ...
and often undrinkable. In particular the affliction has received attention in connection to incidents of whites produced in
Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
.
[Steinberger, Mike, '']Slate.com
''Slate'' is an online magazine that covers current affairs, politics, and culture in the United States. It was created in 1996 by former '' New Republic'' editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. In 2 ...
'' (July 6, 2005)
The Murderer in the Wine Cellar
/ref>[Rockwell, Don, '' The Washingtonian'' (February 01, 2006)]
Uncorked: Fool's Gold (Oxidized White Burgundies)
/ref> The afflicted vintage
Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...
s are predominantly from the late 1990s, and in particular those of 96, 97 and 98,[Styles, Oliver, ''Decanter.com'' (February 21, 2007)]
Cork to blame for premature Burgundy oxidation says Coates
/ref> until 2002.Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, and Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
.
Hypotheses
Clive Coates
Clive Coates (21 October 1941 – 26 July 2022) was a British wine writer and Master of Wine, best known for his books about the wines of Burgundy.winepros.com.au.
Biography
Born in Wimbledon, London on 21 October 1941, Coates worked for T ...
, MW has stated that "Poorly-performing cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
s are the main culprits behind prematurely aged white Burgundy",[ while Pierre Rovani of '']The Wine Advocate
''The Wine Advocate'', fully known as ''Robert Parker's Wine Advocate'' and informally abbreviated ''TWA'' or ''WA ''or more recently as ''RP'', is a bimonthly wine publication based in the United States featuring the consumer advice of wine criti ...
'' has stated the contrary, "corks are not the issue".[ ]Allen Meadows
Allen Meadows is an American wine critic and publisher of the Burghound.com quarterly newsletter and website. He was a financial executive and private wine collector until a profile published in ''Wine Spectator'' in 1997 led him to decide to follo ...
has speculated that "based on what we know today, the most likely source of the problem is cork-related, though it appears this has been exacerbated by generally lower levels of SO2", while Steve Tanzer believes it to be a combination of several factors that involve corks, global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
resulting in overripe fruit, excessive stirring of the lees, and insufficient use of sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...
.[ Roger Boulton, professor of ]UC Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...
, agreed with the probability of multifactorial causality, stating, "there are likely to be both closure issues and wine chemistry
Wine is a complex mixture of chemical compounds in a hydro-alcoholic solution with a pH around 4.
The chemistry of wine and its resultant quality depend on achieving a balance between three aspects of the berries used to make the wine: their sugar ...
issues, so looking for the ingleanswer will be like missing the bus".[
The French oenologists Denis Dubourdieu and Valérie Lavigne-Cruege launched a theory that with the recent trends of abstaining from the use of ]herbicide
Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...
s and letting grass grow freely in the vineyards
A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...
of Burgundy, the grass competing with vines
A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...
for water in conjunction with a warm vintage may cause the vines to endure extreme stress. As a result, grapes grown on highly stressed vines may have insufficient quantities of glutathione
Glutathione (GSH, ) is an antioxidant in plants, animals, fungi, and some bacteria and archaea. Glutathione is capable of preventing damage to important cellular components caused by sources such as reactive oxygen species, free radicals, pero ...
, a compound that functions as an essential antioxidant
Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricant ...
during the fermentation
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...
process.[
According to ]Michel Bettane Michel Bettane is a leading French wine critic, and for
twenty years, a writer for the French consumer wine publication '' La Revue du vin de France''. He left ''La Revue'' in 2004 to work for the rivaling wine publication ''Le Classement des Meill ...
, Burgundy producers reacted by taking steps to address the possible causes by heightened scrutiny of cork quality, more awareness of possible sulfur dioxide insufficiency, and a decrease of the practice of ''batonnage'', the stirring of the lees that adds richness to the wines but also increases oxygen contact.[
In December 2006, ]Jamie Goode Jamie Goode is a British author with a PhD in plant biology, and a wine columnist of ''The Sunday Express''. Goode also contributes to wine publications such as '' Harpers'', '' The World of Fine Wine'', ''Decanter'', ''GrapesTALK'' and ''Sommelier ...
published an analysis of the problem of premature oxidation in ''The World of Fine Wine
''The World of Fine Wine'', abbreviated ''WFW'', is a British quarterly publication for a wealthy audience of wine enthusiasts and collectors. Originally published by Quarto Magazines Ltd, and now published by Progressive Media International, the ...
'' and explores some possible solutions.[
]
Organic winemaking
Premature oxidation is a risk in organic wine
Organic wine is wine made from grapes grown in accordance with the principles of organic farming, which excludes the use of artificial chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides.
The consumption of organic wine grew at a r ...
making, in which a lowered sulfite
Sulfites or sulphites are compounds that contain the sulfite ion (or the sulfate(IV) ion, from its correct systematic name), . The sulfite ion is the conjugate base of bisulfite. Although its acid ( sulfurous acid) is elusive, its salts are wide ...
content is stipulated.
Use of bâtonnage is known to increase premature oxidation.
References
External links
Oxidized Burgundies Wiki Site
internet community project
{{wines
Oenology