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I was reading a passage from William J. Todd (1926) this morning and was surprised to read this:

WJT wrote:Vintage wines for some years after bottling usually "go sick" once a year either in the spring or autumn. This is caused by a slight fermentation and results in the gradual formation of the crust

Has anyone ever heard of this before?

I am intrigued by the 'spritzyness' and attendant foul taste, occasionally seen in some young-ish red wines (including ports such as Niepoort '97), but which never seems to crop up in bottles over fifteen years old. Two nights ago, I found a '98 northern Rhone wine to be badly compromised by this, and i've found the same problem in some CDP's.

This must either be a new problem, a rogue yeast or bacterium that has not infiltrated the wine world before; or one from which bottles subsequently recover.

Would love to get the trade's take on this.

Tom

Cigars tend to go through a sick period as well.

uncle tom wrote:I am intrigued by the 'spritzyness' and attendant foul taste, occasionally seen in some young-ish red wines (including ports such as Niepoort '97), but which never seems to crop up in bottles over fifteen years old. Two nights ago, I found a '98 northern Rhone wine to be badly compromised by this, and i've found the same problem in some CDP's.

This must either be a new problem, a rogue yeast or bacterium that has not infiltrated the wine world before; or one from which bottles subsequently recover.

Would love to get the trade's take on this.

Tom

talking to a few of the wine makers of dry reds, they all mention that this is attributed to poor manufacturing when the spritzyness comes up.

Either the bottling plant is unclean, the corks are tainted or the during the racking process not everything was sterile.

Secondary fermentation should usually only happen in champagne and beer =)

g-man wrote:talking to a few of the wine makers of dry reds, they all mention that this is attributed to poor manufacturing when the spritzyness comes up.

Either the bottling plant is unclean, the corks are tainted or the during the racking process not everything was sterile.

Secondary fermentation should usually only happen in champagne and beer =)

There's a long list of wines which are designed to undergo a secondary fermentation in bottle, but port is not (yet?) one of them. Perhaps Niepoort are working on a cunning plan to release a new product competitor to Pink Port -

FIZZY PORT

To be sold in cans and drunk through straws. Also available pre-mixed with lemonade.