What happens during the ageing process?
September, 2005 Filed in: Tasting wine
What happens to wine while it is aging? Without getting overly technical there are several chemical reactions going on at several different levels. The one that people will pick up on and notice more than any is the tannin impact. Basically during aging the tannins start breaking down and joining with other compounds in the wine. When the tannins start out in the wine they are very long and skinny chain molecules (and you thought High school chemistry would never be important in your life). Over time they begin to break apart into smaller chains and start binding with other compounds in the wine.
If you stretch back to your high school chemistry you’ll remember that compounds like to be stable. If they loose something they want it back or something just as valuable to them. This is what is happening to the tannin chains. They are getting pulled apart from light, oxygen, and what ever forces physically and chemically in the bottle you can imagine. When broken apart they start looking for something that will fill the void, compounds that contribute to sweetness, fruit flavor, or what ever else is around that fit’s their need.
This is why older wines will taste smoother, less astringent, and less fruity. The fruit is partially diminished by oxidative properties in the wine that will eventually create a reductive atmosphere in the bottle. Once reductive process starts happening everything breaks loose. From that point on the wine will start diminishing until its just plain nasty.
If you stretch back to your high school chemistry you’ll remember that compounds like to be stable. If they loose something they want it back or something just as valuable to them. This is what is happening to the tannin chains. They are getting pulled apart from light, oxygen, and what ever forces physically and chemically in the bottle you can imagine. When broken apart they start looking for something that will fill the void, compounds that contribute to sweetness, fruit flavor, or what ever else is around that fit’s their need.
This is why older wines will taste smoother, less astringent, and less fruity. The fruit is partially diminished by oxidative properties in the wine that will eventually create a reductive atmosphere in the bottle. Once reductive process starts happening everything breaks loose. From that point on the wine will start diminishing until its just plain nasty.