Wine and Magnets

Apart from the fact that most if us would feel that if a wine needs improving, then it is not worth drinking... in any case neither magnetic coasters nor pyramids, crystals or other hocus-pocus will make the slightest difference.

Unless you regularly drink wine containing iron filings it is difficult to see how this could help. I have to say that walking three times anti-clockwise round the table whilst waving a wand and muttering Abracadabra is likely to be just as effective.

Tim Hartley

Make sure the wand is not ferromagnetic. Stainless steel or copper would be fine.

Don't be silly, I'm sure that the magnetic feild has the possibility of freeing up the wine's Charkra, thus improving its taste. All jokes aside, i cannot think of a possible scientific reason why this would work. Although if somebody marketed it right i'm sure money could be made from it.

Ahh! There's your problem.

You must walk backwards saying "Paul is Dead, Paul is Dead"

Myron

You may want to check this out:

Aled wrote on Wed, 11 Jan 2006 12:39:11 -0000:

AE> magnetic coaster placed under a bottle of wine

AE> in order to improve the taste?

Isn't this a perennial delusion that has been disproven many times before. Even the once popular magnetic insoles for shoes are likely to have more effect. What is there in wine that could be affected by a ferro-magnet?

James Silverton Potomac, Maryland.

Lovely, informative site. Seriously though, i wouldn't believe it unless it can be scientifically proven, and by that i mean serious research papers on it. You want to improve your wine, try sticking a copper coin or silver spoon in it next time, at least there is some science behind that!

Lovely, informative site. Seriously though, i wouldn't believe it unless it can be scientifically proven, and by that i mean serious research papers on it. You want to improve your wine, try sticking a copper coin or silver spoon in it next time, at least there is some science behind that!

On wines showing evident signs of reduction, the copper coin does wonders, and you get a really shiny coin in the end...

Mike,

I always choose a new French oak wand - seems to make a big difference, if used judiciously! ;-)

Hunt

Is that Charkra Hill, Sonoma? They make some nice Chards, IIRC.

Hunt

I usually walk forewards, saying, "deaD si luaP!"

Hunt

What if the grapes are crushed by someone wearing magnetic insoles?

Hunt

New scams for selling magnetic devices are coming around all of the time, and have been since long before I was born. There are devices claiming to cure or ease all sorts of health problems by being placed on many areas of the body, in clothing, shoes, etc. There is a magnetic device to clamp around a water pipe claiming to prevent deposits. There is a device to clamp around a gasoline line claiming to increase the the miles per gallon for your auto. I have never seen any proper scientific tests that show that any of these things have a significant effect other than a possible placebo one. Most testing organizations will not even bother to test such devices anymore. Unfortunately, no matter how unlikely the claims, many such devices remain on the market. Federal regulators, with limited budgets in most countries, tend to concentrate on the many things that can cause harm such as medications with bad side effects, contaminated food, food additives etc. The more people that complain to regulators, the more likely they will investigate unlikely claims. It is up to the people making such claims in sales literature to prove that the claims are true or to cease making the claims. Beware of companies that use testimonials in their ads.

So, does anyone want to buy a magnetic codpiece??? :-)

No! but if you take one of your magets and stick it up your arse, it might improve your voice:-)

Is that what some refer to as retro-olfaction?

No - but here's a piece I wrote a few years back on the topic. It's in rtf as there are a couple of urls in it.

Cheers! Martin

Magnetic wine magic? Martin Field I keep hearing about whiz-bang new products for wine, wine aerators, wine humidicribs, bottle gas-insertors, glasses designed for specific wines (the one for the cask (bag in box) riesling really works!) and so forth. The latest fad is for the wine magnetiser - these look like a sort of magnetised ashtray (remove the butts first) in which you place a bottle of your favourite wine to miraculously improve it - (i.e. in fact to prematurely age it) in minutes. Examples include the Wine Improver, the Wine Cellar Express and the Perfect Sommelier.

No I haven't tried them - I'm sceptical and I've got better things to do with my money. But others have and report positively - see The rage to age wine.

I have cheaper and more innovative ways to prematurely age my wine - here are a few. I align my bottles on a north-south axis on the night of a full moon. Some bottles I place under a rickety pyramid constructed out of an old packing case. One bottle that I had inadvertently situated next to a postcard from Stonehenge for a few minutes was positively breathtaking. A case of red I once kept in the car boot in the middle of summer on the way back from a northerly based vineyard improved so rapidly I had to toss it out.

A friend reports - from hospital - that his house - built under high voltage power lines - is wonderful for accelerating the drinkability of his wines. He hopes one day - if he gets well - to savour them. Next time I visit I'm going to ask him to smuggle a bottle into his next MRI scan as an experiment. In a similar vein another friend says he has had astonishing results by keeping a bottle of red in his brief case next to his mobile phone for an hour or two just before a business lunch.

My next experiments will involve exposure of wine to cosmic rays and consultation with a clairvoyant. For example: Me, "Is this bottle ready to drink now?" Clairvoyant, "Mmmm. Could be corked." Me, "What about this one?" Clairvoyant "2005 to 2007." Me "What about this?" Clairvoyant, "A tad tired. Have you tried the Wine De-Gausser? I have one here under my crystal ball somewhere."