Recent content by Bruce G.

Just to be clear, the interaction I'm talking about is not the typical one that we think of when we discuss MLF activity in wine. In a typical malo-lactic fermentation, LAB break down malic acid into lactic acid and carbon dioxide. This activity doesn't yield VA directly. But LAB can also...

That would be a pretty bold claim. I hope it apparent to everyone that I'm not saying that. I think a primary cause of an in-bottle rise in VA is heterofermentative LAB (particularly Lactobacillus spp.) acting on residual reducing sugars (the usual hexose suspects). To answer your last point...

Quite a bit of the volatility found in natural wines is not from Acetobacter, but from bad strains of malo-lactic bacteria metabolizing residual sugars into VA. These strains aren't obligate aerobes, and will quite happily wreak havoc in a wine post-bottling.

Strip tests for sulfites in wine are already available (ref: Accuvin and Indigo Instruments). They're not very reliable, but are very easy to use.

Ken: Both times the DO pick-up varied pretty widely. And for one of the machines, corking--both insertion depth and amount of cork dust--was inconsistent. In that second one the corker jaws were noticeably worn and in need of replacement. Regards, PS: The Bertolasso I currently (kinda) work...

The two times I worked with GAI I found them hard to sanitize and yielding a greater than acceptable level of variability in product. Neither time was in a winery I ran, so improper maintenance could have been the cause of the variability. Bertalasso uniblocks have served me well.

I'd prefer to use neither sulfur nor filtration. But, forced to choose which one I consider more damaging I'd go with filtration. This is a gross generalization, of course. But I've never used the filter I own, while most of my wines have smallish (

In theory this technology might be less intrusive than others. But it looks likely to reinforce the wine world's regrettable decades-long obsession with fruit amplification and preservation.

I've never met the man. The only "conversation" I had with him was a brief flurry of e-mails that ended well for neither of us. While I'm hesitant to engage in too much arm-chair pop-psych, I think Jonathan's on to something in mentioning an atrophied ego. I can't help but think that man has...

I think there may be merit to this diagnosis. Over on eBob, in the same thread that started with a copy of his Twitter comments (including the jihadist remark posted in the OP here), he posted the following: age does bestow some valuable experiences and lessons....and 35 years of survival and...

Good choice. I live in Hokkaido, but happen to have some Corison on hand (as well as Canon and Rougeard). Slightly worried, though, that if I turn to Corison for some solace I'll wake up some day soon to the news that Cathy has sold to Constellation.

Ironically, over at eBob, when everyone was cheering the recent change at Figeac, I was a typical killjoy and posted that I was going off to drown my sorrows in a glass of Mayacamas Cab. What does one drink now that Mayacamas may also be going the way of the Dodo?

Yeah, there is that. But, like Steve, I thought Bob Travers would always be there. Mayacamas Cab done "that way" may have just become a non-renewable resource.

Banks is posting over at WineBerserkers, steadfastly maintaining that there will be no change of style. Curiously, while doing that he is also posting that "there is significant room for improvement". Can't help but worry. It's not like we're drowning in a wealth of choices when it comes to...

Joe: Yes, was speaking of the work done at UCD that led to the publishing of the Aroma Wheel. Though the folks at Davis certainly weren't the first to say "Hey, this wine smells of [insert appropriate noun here]", they took that idea and ran with it, developing a fairly useful sensory...