Would like to hear opinions on the topic of so-called bottle shock; have had the experinece a couple times where a wine smells / tastes different soon after bottling, but eventually recovers to it's former character. Have other experienced this? what is the cause? Typical recovery times?
It's fairly frequent for home winemakers. It happens almost all of the time but you may not notice it since the effects on taste are sometimes quite subtle.
Exposure to oxygen during the bottling process. Oxygen added to the wine will react with other compounds. It usually takes a few days before "bottle shock" is noticeable.
A couple of weeks to a couple of months. 1 month should be a safe bet,
3 monts is pretty fool proof.Stefan Mazur
Well... we've only made reds & we're not very, uhh, "meticulous" in our methodology. Bottle shock has lasted from a month to 6 months & counting in our bottlings. I have noticed that our lighter reds, merlot, barbera, and the occasional cab sav seem to exhibit a greater tendency towards BS, but that's both subjective & observational . 3 batches of really robust zin, about a week on avreage & about the same for 2 batches of peach and a small batch of pear-raisin. Some of the guys in the group have different observations from bottle to bottle of the same pressing! The cause? I'm 100% sure its due to evil spirits, cooties & bad juju. To mitigate such, we usually offer up to les dieux de vins a sacrifice of Gauloises,smelly cheese & marc. Frequently. Even when we're not afflicted. It's preventative, don't you think? (Not to be engaged in without a witchdoctor's supervision. Your sacrifices may vary.) When we bottle in December, I usually don't worry until the spring if there's no palatable improvement. HTH. regards, bob
"AxisOfBeagles" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@alphaone.com...
I cann't say I have read anything definative on bottle shock but it certainly happens. I suspect it has something to do with the air that comes in contact with the wine during bottling and especially with the air that is under the cork when it is forced into the wine at 2 or 3 atmosphers when you drive the cork home. After a month or two the effect is reversed by slow chemical reaction. Once again, these are suspicions with nothing to back it up.
Ray
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