Frankenwine: Turn Two Buck Chuck Into 50 Buck Frank?

Can 600 volts and a little titanium take the place of reclining in a musty cellar for years (or a tidy temperature/humidity controlled storage locker)? Keep your eyes and palate peeled for further developments in this story:

Researchers - and some vineyards - are developing electrical equipment that accelerates the aging process, turning young wine from an undrinkable bitter grape juice into a quaffable beverage fit for any table.

The system being developed in China - which has a burgeoning wine industry - works by speeding up the normal chemical reactions in wines that can take up to 20 years. According to the researchers, the results have been "striking" and have fooled some wine experts in taste testings. Even the cheapest of wines are usually only drunk after six months. Most, especially reds, take longer to achieve the required balance and complexity.

The finest can take 20 years or more to reach their peak. During aging, wine becomes less acidic as the alcohol reacts with organic acids to produce a plethora of the fragrant compounds known as esters. Unpleasant components precipitate out and the wine becomes clearer and more stable. Red wines mellow and become less bitter.

A team led by Xin An Zeng, a chemist at the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, came up with the idea of pumping the rough wine through a pipe that ran between two titanium electrodes, connected to the mains.
For the test wine, the team selected a three-month-old cabernet sauvignon from the Suntime Winery, China's largest producer. Batches of wine spent one, three or eight minutes in the electric fields. The team then analysed the treated wine for chemical changes that might alter its "mouth feel" and quality, and passed it to a panel of 12 experienced wine tasters who assessed it in a blind tasting With the gentlest treatment, the harsh, astringent wine grew softer. Longer exposure saw some of the hallmarks of aging emerge – a more mature "nose", better balance and greater complexity.

The improvements reached their peak after 3 minutes at 600 volts per centimeter: this left the wine well balanced and harmonious, with a nose of an aged wine and, importantly, still recognisably a cabernet sauvignon.
Although Zeng cannot yet explain how exposure to an electric field alters the wine's chemistry, his results show that under the right conditions the technique can accelerate some aspects of the aging process. "Not only can it shorten a wine's normal storage time, it can also improve some lower-quality wine," he said.
Five Chinese wineries have begun trials.