Nukes and Nebbiolos: Atomic Testing Exposes Wine Fraud

Loved the headline and photo. I think I've seen this technique explained on "Bones," or possibly "CIS Napa-Sonoma." But Matthew extracted this version of the story from Scientific American.

by Matthew Zuras — Mar 25th 2010 at 6:30AM

We all know how carbon dating works, right? No? Well, as you should know, carbon makes up the chemical basis of all known life. Carbon, the fourth most abundant element in the universe, can be found in just about everything, albeit in different types of isotopes. Carbon 12 is all over the place, but carbon 14 (C14) is the rare and finicky little sister. The natural ratio between the levels of these two types of carbon in a given substance has remained constant throughout history, with one notable exception: when we were testing nuclear bombs in the atmosphere back in the '50s and '60s. Those high-altitude mushroom clouds inadvertently altered the level of C14 in the air.

Graham Jones at Australia's University of Adelaide thought he might exploit this variation by correlating the C14 levels in atmospheric samples from that period with the levels in vintage wines. It turns out that some vintners may be trying to pull a bit of a scam. Since, as they grow, grapes absorb a certain amount of C14 from the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, Jones and his team discovered a way to match air levels of C14 with the wine in the bottle; a spike in C14 means your bottle is no older than a Boomer. So, if you're concerned that your Two Buck Chuck is a bit younger than advertised, just grab your trusty liquid scintillation counter, and get to tallying your decaying atoms.
[From: Scientific American]

This Riesling's Drier Than My Sense of Humor

Up 'til now assessing the relative sweetness of a Riesling was as scientific as this post's headline.

When a producer says the wine is "Dry," how do you know what that really means? "A little spicy," to my palate could cause bullets of sweat to shoot forth from the foreheads of some of my compatriots, for instance.

Riding to the rescue is the International Riesling Foundation (the logo on their capes is IRF). This band of Rhine Rangers have designed a simple, ruler-like scale divided into four quarters, from dry to sweet. For each Riesling carrying this scale, an arrowhead marks the wine's relative sweetness.

Harry Peterson-Nedry (his real name), an IRF board member and owner of Oregon's Chelhalem Winery has already included the scale on their three 2008 Riesling cuvées.

Wine geeks already appreciate the fine range of Rieslings made in California, but this will help us take the message to those who still proclaim, "I don't like Rieslings, they're too sweet."

My two local favorite dry, excellent Rieslings come from Claiborne-Churchill and Wolff Vineyards, both in San Luis Obispo's Edna Valley. Fantastic with Thai food and just plain revitalizing as a quaffer on one of our numerous warm afternoons.

And Jekel Vineyards, our eno-neighbor to the north, will be the first California winery to incorporate the Riesling Ruler Scale on their labels.

Source – Santé Magazine, May.2009