What happens to wine after you sink it and heat it

[Mayhaw Man]

Betsy Andrews has written and excellent series of pieces for a blog on FoodandWine.com. In one, titled Wine Rescue she covers some wine guys going through the bottles and making decisions about what stays, what goes, and how and why it has changed (the why is glaringly obvious, I suppose).

Anyway, I thought that a few of you might find it interesting.

[Rebecca263]

Everything about Katrina is breaking my heart.

[Rebel Rose]

That's an interesting piece and a fun read. Also very useful advice for our friends in Napa and Sonoma who may have submerged cellars at the moment. Although I wouldn't follow the sommelier's advice to give the bottles a bleach bath--bleach contributes to TCA (cork taint) problems. A gentle soap and water scrub, and definitely take the foil capsule off, as many are a little loose and you want to check that there is no moisture or gunk under the foil. Have a glass-writing pen handy in case the label can't be saved, and write the pertinent production information on the bottle. Then hope for the best!

Most white wines are likely cooked, but you never know--a high acid white just might make it, although it may have developed caramelized flavors in the heat. Still and all, try them before you dump them!

[jsolomon]

So, is all of this going down the drain, or is someone going to make vinegar out of it?

Y'know, lemons and lemonade and all.

[David McDuff]

Most white wines are likely cooked, but you never know--a high acid white just might make it, although it may have developed  caramelized flavors in the heat.  Still and all, try them before you dump them!

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I'll take exception to Mary's prediction only to add that ALL of the wines will be cooked: white, red, rose, bubbly and, yes, even fortified wines. Rightly, the low-acid whites will show their damage more plainly than other wines. That said, even the sturdiest of red wines will never be what they could/should have been after being exposed to the sweltering heat of an unprotected New Orleans summer.

"Drinkable" and sellable are two different things. More power to all of those restaurant owners, somelliers and collectors who are willing and able to taste and drink their way through the damaged bottles rather than simply pouring them down the drain. In spite of the pain they must all be feeling, I just hope they're all conscientious enough not to try to sell these damaged goods to their customers or to other buyers/collectors.

[Rebel Rose]

Thanks, David, that's an important point.

This particular article is about helping individual owners recover as many bottles as possible from their personal cellar. Many of them are from vintages and producers which can never be replaced, and some may be connected with memories of travels to wine countries. Here's to finding the occasional drinkable.

[David McDuff]

Your diplomacy is appreciated, Mary. I must admit I did snowball the issue a bit to encompass the entire scenario of what's happening with all of the damaged wines in NOLA. As someone that has seen part of his collection damaged by heat at an off-site storage facility, I can certainly relate to these individuals' desires to try to salvage at least a little bit of enjoyment from their heartbreaking losses.

[maher]

not to belittle the emotions all of us felt at the many tragedies of katerina, but hearing the sommelier at Brennan's talking about losing what is one of the worlds top cellars broke my heart.