I have just reviewed M Seduction Haut Medoc and mentioned that it had lots of sediment. If there is anyone left out there who like me was a complete novice when they bought their first case and is wondering what they are, description follows;
In most cases, sediment in bottled wine is a side effect of aging: a deposit of tartrate crystals and/or of anthocyans, tannins, etc., produced by naturally occurring phenolic polymerization.This probably means that the winemaker didn't heavily filter and clarify the wine before bottling. The downside is the deposit (which, despite what many consumers think, is not a defect); the upside is usually more flavour, more potential to develop a bouquet and increased ageability.
To deal with the deposit, all you normally need to do is set the bottle upright an hour or two before opening and pour carefully, especially toward the end. Some wines throw particularly heavy deposits (vintage Ports are notorious in that regard) and you may want to decant them into another container. This is usually done by placing a light source behind the bottle as you pour and stopping when you see the deposit enter the neck. While you end up leaving an ounce or two of wine behind, you probably wouldn't enjoy drinking the gritty slurry anyway.
The presence of Tartrates could also be a sign that the wine has not been cold stabilized, although cold stabilizing doesn't necessarily remove all sediment.
Cold stabilization techniques have varying degrees of effectiveness. And the issue is complicated with red wines because tartrate and potassium ions can bind or complex with other chemical components, in particular phenols such as anthocyans, making them resistant to precipitation and reaction. As the wine ages and polymerization occurs, the complexes lose some of their capacity to hold tartaric acid, which then precipitates out. Many red wines aren't cold stabilized because they aren't intended to be chilled to a low temperature (usually a prerequisite to crystal formation).
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