Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 (Tek) 9/28/84 based on 9/17/84; site tekgvs.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxb!mhuxn!mhuxm!mhuxj!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!tekcrl!tekgvs!jerem From: jerem@tekgvs.UUCP (Jere Marrs) Newsgroups: net.wines Subject: wineache Message-ID: <1043@tekgvs.UUCP> Date: Sun, 10-Feb-85 00:42:11 EST Article-I.D.: tekgvs.1043 Posted: Sun Feb 10 00:42:11 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 11-Feb-85 06:25:34 EST Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR Lines: 51 The wine net has been entirely too dormant. I would like to discuss an attribute of wine not often discussed in the wine media: headache generation. I have a disposition toward headaches normally, and so I think I have a low threshold for headaches caused by wines. The pattern of headache generation is clear and I think understandable from the winemaking point of view. Since the basic subject is that of hangovers, we know what the physiological cause for those are: the accumulation of high molecular-weight alcohols, ketones and esters in the teeny blood vessels in the brain. These compounds have been given the unfortunate term fusel oils. That sounds like something that might wash up on a beach in Santa Barbara or Provence. It remains that there are specific wines that generate headaches for me. Generally they are very low-cost reds and cheap or Charmat-process sparkling wines. It's ironic that the cheap ones do it. I can't get away with bargains. I have a suggestion as to why this occurs, and would be interested in other ideas. In visiting wineries in the Northwest and in California, I notice that those whose wines are consistently superior over many years (Beaulieu Vineyards, Robert Mondavi, Domaine Chandon, Sterling Vineyards, Chateau Ste. Michelle, and uncounted boutique wineries) take great care in the culturing and maintenance of their yeast cultures. The great wineries of the Napa Valley whose wines have set a pattern or "style" over the decades are very careful indeed with their yeast cultures. We know that "wild" yeasts that creep in to our musts when we make wine at home can create 'off' flavors and these can be identified in egregiously bad batches as ketones and esters (e.g. ethyl acetate). In commercial wineries and smart home wineries, all "wild" yeasts are killed off in the beginning must through the use of sulfur dioxide in amounts greater than 120 ppm. Once sterilized, the must is then innoculated with a pure, often proprietary, yeast culture to produce a predictable result. If this procedure is followed, then the quality of the resulting wine will be determined by the quality of the grapes used, and through blending the musts from various vineyards, a style can be maintained. So, it's my guess that the wines that tend to be headache-generating (I'm sure there's a neat latin word for that, maybe poenogenic?) are made with uncontrolled yeast cultures or even with the yeast cells that cover the grape when it's picked. The case with sparkling wines is more serious because 1.) it is comsumed in larger quantities (speaking for myself) and 2.) the secondary fermentation and aging over the yeast cells can be as long as two years. The secondary fermentation takes place under stringent conditions which might favor the kinetics of 'fusel oils'. So it is my guess that strict control over yeast strain purity is the key to non-headache generating wines. It also makes for better wines. Jere M. Marrs Tektronix, Inc. Beaverton, Oregon tektronix!tekgvs!jerem