The glory of the 4oz/5oz tasting bottles. 79 Heitz Martha's opened 10 days ago - still drinking as good as when opened.

Amber was out of stock last time. I usually do amber cause it’s a couple cents cheaper. Ha

Did you have mouse?

Lonnie, the actual “chemistry” definition would be easier to explain than the “wine” definition, which has only scant connection. I’ll give you mine, fwiw (as a chemist): reduction, in wine, is a truly terrible choice of a word used to say that the wine has some combination of noticeable volatile sulfur compounds. There is some debate whether people use it to describe the presence of obvious SO2, or it’s more used in the case of more obviously “aromatic” compounds like H2S, and more complex mercaptans (a mercaptan is just the analog of an alcohol, where the the oxygen is replaced by a sulfur atom). Mercaptans (also called Thiols) are notoriously strong smelling, and often in a bad way. Skunk, cooked cabbage, cat pee, elements of grapefruit, coffee, are some aromas of various mercaptans.

When someone describes a wine as “reduced” they are most likely referring to the presence of one or more of these types of smells, particularly the off-putting ones, like skunk, rubber, etc. This “reduction” (again, I’m not fond of its use, but it is the common parlance at this point), can sometimes dissipate, if the compounds in question change when exposed to oxygen. Copper can be an aid in some cases, which is why you’ll see people refer to the “copper penny trick”, but only in certain cases.

Oxidation is a different characteristic in wine, and usually refers to the wine having lost its freshness, turning more to sherry like (“oxidative”, presumably because unwanted oxygen got into the bottle) aromas. Unlike the presence of mercaptans, this is an actual change in the chemistry of the wine, as opposed to merely the presence of a contaminant in the case of reduction. And it is irreversible, so it wont improve.

1 Like

Has anyone tried keeping the smaller bottles at cellar temperature vs. in the refrigerator? Is so, any difference when retasted?

Otto and Alan. I thank you both.
I bought 12 4 oz bottles on amazon and look forward to the experiment.

Lonnie

Can the bottles be reused?

I hadn’t seen Otto’s answer, which is also good!

Yes. Some use the dishwasher, but because the opening is small, I don’t quite trust that, both to get soap in, and more importantly to rinse it out. What I’ve adopted to clean them is to rinse out a couple times, then fill with boiling water and let sit while it cools. Empty, let dry for a day or two. Important: the plastic cone inserts can trap wine inside the cap, they should be pried out with a knife or ice pick, then the caps and inserts can be washed in soapy water.

i steam them in a multi level steamer - about 20 at a time

I chuckled as I saw your answer, since it looked like you just more or less rephrased what I just said! neener

My sinister laboratory (where I make beer and all sorts of other things and age my wine projects) stays about 65F in the summer. Haven’t had an issue leaving them there after filling them.

With (very mature, for example) wines that wouldn’t do well after getting some oxygen exposure, I’ll carefully siphon.

After rinsing, I use a home wine making equipment cleaner (PBW). You can get small quantities from home wine and beer making suppliers and the likes of Amazon. Here’s an overview of options: Cleaning & Sanitizing Techniques - WineMakerMag.com

This is amazing. I totally missed the first thread so I am really glad to catch this one and read the prior thread. I will definitely be trying this. Thanks so much for sharing C fu!

Also the bottle of 79 Heitz sounds amazing.

We are using the 4oz bottles in our business to keep our tasting series going. People love them. Thanks Fu.

Ehem. I feel that this blatant discrimination against the 3 oz bottle needs to be addressed. It gives you 7 pours even if there’s some sediment.

But why “Boston”?

Charlie

Which of the cap options in the link you shared are you using?

Clayton

22-400 Black Rib Side Smooth Top Phenolic (CT) Cap - LDPE Cone

I’ve been playing around with sample bottles over the past couple of months (inspired by Charlie) and my experience is that it works well for most young wines especially if I drink it within a week or two. Most of the time I drink it up pretty soon, but I have had notes of oxidation in a few cases when it sits in the fridge longer than a week. One example: 2014 Level Chav that I poured immediately into multiple 5 ounce bottles. My protocol is to pop and pour into the sample bottles with a funnel. I try to fill it up high to have as little air in the bottle as possible. Initially I bought tubing to transfer but it was too much work/messy and didn’t seem to be needed for young wines. Had some of the Levet day of, then I drank one sample bottle within the first week and it was still drinking super fresh and aromatic, even better than the first day. The second sample bottle I drank a week later and I can taste some mild oxidative notes creeping in. Have two sample bottles of 2000 Chateau Montelena Estate Cab and 2000 Chateau Cantemerle that I pop and poured directly into sample bottles yesterday night. Will probably aim to drink them before the end of this week.

Is the goal to perhaps overfill a little, so there is no air?

Tips for a clean siphoning experience: 1) Have the bottle you’re transferring from higher up on some solid/stable surface. 2) Have good backlighting, so you can see the filling level clearly. One of those boxy 9V flashlights is a good option. 3) Be holding the bottle that’s being filled. Lift it to slow and then stop the flow. 4) For wines with sediment, put a clip of some sort on the tubing, so it can’t reach the bottom of the bottle.