Napalm In The Morning

by Susan
(Ontario)

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning... ... Smells like, victory" While skins could be part of the sediment in home made unfiltered wines, in most commercial wines, (which are usually filtered) even boutique wines, the sediment "in a bottle" is crystalization caused by the chemical reactions in the living liquid. When certain chemicals react with each other, just like in all material living or not, they usually throw off compounds that in the case of wine end up in the bottom of the bottle. The most common is tartaric acid which can accumulate at the bottle of a bottle and sometimes at the bottom of the cork for older wines. This is the same compound as is called cream of tartar when in a powdered form and is considered the soul of the wine and eaten by some of the older European winemakers with a smile. (Most everyone else finds it a bit overpowering, LOL!!). So all said sediment can be anything thrown off in the chemical and biological reaction that we call wine! Too Thick? Cheers! I once had someone thinking he was being helpful shake up the powdered sediment in the bottom of a 12 year old bottle of Italian wine....it was barolo, my favorite...aged 12 years. Needless to say the wine was not drank that night. It needed ample time to settle again before it was even remotely drinkable. It was a sad day indeed. Never shake the sediment up from the bottom, ever. Decant your beautiful wine and enjoy.