Raise your hand if you know what wine diamonds are…
Grape juice is full of sugars and acids. As the grapes mature the sugar content gets higher and the acids go down (think about table grapes, the small less ripe ones are sour — acid, and the big plump ones are sweet). The sugars are fermented into the alcohol but the acid remains behind to add refreshing character to the wine. Some grapes have more inherent acid than others and there are wine making techniques to tame or change the acids if they are out of balance or too pronounced for the desired taste profile. This happens more often in red wines, but that deals with malic acid.
Tartaric acid is the most prevalent acid found in grapes and is what precipitates out and forms the wine diamonds (aka tartaric acid crystals). They are found in high acid wines sometimes but are more readily noticeable in whites bc you can see them floating in the bottom of the bottle.
These crystals were stuck to the cork (bc I stored the bottle on its side) so I was able to appreciate them. Who doesn’t like a little surprise sparkle?✨
Cheers!
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