One Premox Theory
Like many wine drinkers I have always been curious about the pre-mature oxidation issue that have plagued white burgundy since the mid 90’s. I have heard many theories, but today I read about another one and I wanted to share it with you.
It is from Allan Meadows himself and is quoted directly. It is certainly not the most recent, but absolutely interesting.
Bourghound.com 3rd Quarter review from June 2014, Page 8
I never cease to be amazed at what is proposed as potential culprits. Perhaps the most interesting one I heard since my last report was that the higher percentage of recycled glass used to manufacture wine bottles that is now required in Europe was responsible for leaching potential oxidative elements into the wines. The rationale behind this idea is that recycled glass supposedly has higher levels of some metals, in particular copper, which are known to be oxidative agents. High residual copper has been proven to accelerate the rate of browning and loss of aromatic freshness for all wines but especially for white wines. The legislation requiring the use of higher percentages of recycled glass was introduced in 1995 which coincidentally or not, is the same time that the premox problem began to affect white burgundies as well as other French whites. Whether this theory will have any legs remains to be seen because there are several potential sources of copper in wines, in particular from copper-based vineyard treatments (CuSO4). I will keep readers posted if I hear of any further developments as it’s possible there is something to it.
Theories abound about why white burgundies oxidize prematurely. What have you heard?
ONE THOUGHT ON “PREMOX THEORY”
Jonny Tyson
Hi Jay
This theory, while interesting, seems to only have credence if the problem continued with the (presumably) same requirements on the glass throughout the 2000s. Was there a change in glass manufacture that co-incided with the reduction of the premature oxidisation?
I’m sure more theories will come until no-one cares any more. I’m sure the Burgundy producers would like everyone to quietly forget about and hope it never happens again