閃閃酒鑽賀聖誕！
大家打開一瓶酒時曾否遇上鑽石？買酒送鑽石？那樣實在是天下間最超值的事！這只是聖誕笑話而已，那些「酒鑽石」其實叫Tartrate Crystals (酒石酸結晶)，來自天然葡萄汁內含酒石酸(Tartaric acid)和鉀(Potassium)的結合而形成，是自然產物。一般來說，酒莊會避免酒石水晶形成，會在裝瓶前把發酵完的酒進行冷穩定化，把酒冷凍至近冰點，讓水晶先行形成才過濾裝瓶，因為有些顧客會以為水晶形成有礙酒質。事實上，水晶無味無害，也不代表酒質有問題。如果在木塞找到酒鑽石，便代表酒莊沒有進行冷穩定化，因為有酒莊認為此過程太機械化會影響酒味和風格，不作冷穩定化亦代表酒本身仍然原汁原味，這亦是酒莊對產品質素具信心的肯定。
http://sens.com.hk/products/alira-cuvee-red-cliff-2010
Dazzling wine diamond for Christmas!
Have you ever come across with diamond after opening the cork? Buying wine and getting diamond is such a good deal! That’s a joke for this Christmas and actually they are just tartrate crystals, i.e. potassium bitartrate from natural grape juice.
Normally wineries will perform ‘cold stabilisation’ to chill the wine to nearly freezing point before bottling, resulting in formation of tartrate crystals from tartaric acid and potassium, to avoid its formation after bottling, because some consumers might have doubt about the wine quality when they see these crystals at the cork. In fact, tartrate crystals are tasteless and non-toxic, and does not affect quality. Finding tartrate crystals at wine cork means that the wine is 100% authentic and has not been over processed as some wineries consider cold stabilisation detracts flavours and nuance.
#diamond #blingbling #tartratecrystal #crystal #romania #alira