Wine. How does it work? What constitutes quality? And aging: can I take the cheap ass grocery store wine, keep it for 50 years and then sell it for millions as vintage?
In: 11
As plant matter decomposes and ferments in right conditions, it creates alcohol. You can make alcohol from wood chips if you wanted too.
Fermentation also creates a bunch of other chemicals. A lot of them are bad for you and taste bad too. Distilling is a way to separate alcohol from everything else.
Another way is to make alcohol from grapes, since its fermentation byproducts are not that bad. But it still have tannins, which make wine taste bitter. As wine ages, tannins decompose into other chemicals, which taste OK.
Ageing also causes other processes, and wine will turn into vinegar eventually. Whites turn into vinegar in a few years, good reds can last more than 10. Cheaper wines turn into vinegar faster.
Vintage vines are collector’s items. Nobody drinks them, they are all vinegar. It is very hard to predict what collectors will like in 50 years. Being rare and famous can help, or maybe creative label or bottle. But it is still a lottery, so do not invest your live’s savings into wine.
Latest Answers