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CrowdScience: Why does wine taste better over time?

Discussion & Talk

Aged bottles on wine racks in a cellar

31/05/2024 GMT

Why does wine taste better over time?

BBC World Service - CrowdScience, Why does wine taste better over time?

What chemistry makes some wines age well, while others turn to vinegar?

What chemistry makes some wines age well, while others turn to vinegar? We visit a venerable old vineyard in Bordeaux, France, for answers.

It’s often said that fine wine gets better with time, and this week’s oenophile listener Jeremy has a cellar full of dust-covered bottles. He is curious whether chemistry can account for the range of flavours that develop as wine matures, but also wonders why some of it tastes like vinegar if you leave it too long? 
  
We head off to the Bordeaux region of France, where vines were planted almost 2,000 years ago. Here, winemakers are joining forces with scientists to better understand wine ageing, a process so subtle and intricate that even the scientists refer to it as magic.  
  
In the world-famous vineyards of Chateau Margaux, presenter Marnie Chesterton learns that the key ingredient for good grapes is a sandy soil type; and that in this part of France, the warming climate is actually having a positive effect on the vines, which need very little water to thrive. Over in the lab, we meet the chemist mapping the molecules responsible for aromas associated with a well-aged Bordeaux. 
 
Featuring: 
Philippe Bascaules, Chateau Margaux 
Prof Cornelis van Leeuwen, Bordeaux Sciences Agro 
Dr Stephanie Marchand-Marion, ISVV 
Alexandre Pons, ISVV 
 
Presented by Marnie Chesterton 
Producer – Marijke Peters 
Editor – Cathy Edwards 
Production Co-ordinator – Liz Tuohy 
Studio Manager – Sarah Hockley

(Photo: Aged bottles on wine racks in a cellar. Credit: Morsa Images/Getty Images)

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