Everybody Loves Diamonds
We’re a culture that loves sparkly things. This week was America’s Independence Day which dazzled with it’s sparkly dreams in the sky. We love glitter, Christmas lights, candles, and of course diamonds. But what about sparkling diamonds in your wine?
Yes, even wine can have diamonds. Wine is a true force of nature. Each vintage and variety representing a different experience with the weather patterns in the vineyard and a different journey through the winery to get to the bottle in front of you today. Most modern winemaking techniques utilize things like filtering and stabilizing to create a wine that is crystal clear and not hazy. Even with these techniques, wine can change once in the bottle and in fact, is supposed to continue to evolve in the bottle.
One of the changes that can happen is the forming of tartrate crystals on the cork, as crystals that have settled at the bottom of the bottle, and sometimes even floating in the wine. If you haven’t encountered it before, you might think you need a new bottle and there’s something wrong, but don’t throw out that bottle!
The crystals come from tartaric acid which is a natural acid found in most wine grapes. Just like it sounds, it is tart and creates that tart, citrus flavor in many wines, helps with preservation of the wine, and keeps pH at the correct levels.
For commercial wineries making wines for store shelves, they typically precipitate out the tartaric acid by chilling the wine close to freezing and allowing the tartrates to crystalize and fall to the bottom of a tank where they can be removed. This is called cold stabilization and you’ll see we often share photos of our stainless steel tanks with thick layers of ice on them looking like snowmen during this process.
You can find wine diamonds in red, roses, or whites and it can happen from any winery. Some wineries lean into it though, and prefer minimal processing in the cellar resulting in a higher chance of wine diamonds. Very fine wines and “natural” wines fall into this category.
So, embrace those diamonds when they occur and make sure to show them off to your friends.
P.S. Weird fact I didn’t even know until writing this blog…Cream of Tartar at the grocery store shelf is typically made from sourcing tartrates from wine diamonds. It truly is a small world!
Kelly Doherty is the Branding and Marketing Director of Kiepersol. A photographer, graphic designer, and writer at heart, the winery and vineyard are the inspired backdrop for Kelly’s creative endeavors.
She holds a WSET Level 3 Award in Wines from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust and loves educating people about wine.
