Through the Microscope
It is said that the great maestro of wine André Tchelistcheff could recall any wine he tasted, remembered wines as personalities and shapes. In the 1980s Grape Grower Rachel Balyeat hosted a special dinner to show my wine photographs to André to ask him – what are they? André said, “the photos showed the jewels in wine.
Photo: 1976 Ch. Lafite Rothschild 30 yrs
These photographs of wine through a polarizing microscope, reveal unexpected patterns, shapes and incredible beauty. Some ‘jewels’ are said to portend long life, style, and character. Others may reflect the signature of the winemaker or the spirit of the wine.
Wine’s inside stories have appeared in numerous publications and venues including The World of Fine Wine Magazine, Scientific American, American Wine Expo, Sterling Vineyard, Alpha Omega Winery, Vineyard Vista, Earthrise Retreat Center, Lawrence Hall of Science, Copia, Grgich Hills and now Hope & Grace Tasting Salon.
Transformation
TRANSFORMATION: Juice becomes wine
In wine’s creation story, it is ev
ident that yeast adds something essential to the mix of sweet juice, acids, tannins, and pigments. This image illustrates early fermentation of chardonnay. The tiny circles are Montrachet yeast. Yeasts transform sugar into bubbly carbon dioxide and alcohol; the alcohol brings more light to the microscopic display as it changes the refractive index of the fermenting juice. I interpret the light as reflecting spirit and vitality, though technically it’s a lot more.
Through grape’s partnership with yeast, the alchemical transformation of fermentation begins. Yeast loves sugar in the sweet grape juice, chews it up and converts it into bubbly carbon dioxide and spirited alcohol.
When grapes ripen from tight young green berries to plump juicy fruit at harvest time, sugar content increases. Typically grapes are harvested when the sugar reaches about 22-24%; percent sugar is also called Brix. The general rule, for every 2 Brix (2% sugar), 1% alcohol is produced. A wine label that says the alcohol is 12.0% also tells us at harvest the grapes were around 24 Brix. If the ferment reaches 15% alcohol yeasts’ work often ceases.
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The Message in the Bottle? Growing and Opening Up
One of the reasons I became so fascinated by wine, it showed the story of life and our senses. Juice, through the microscope is tiny. From fermentation on the forms transform, become more complex, change, grow, and I’ve even seen clues that a wine is losing its vitality.
2002 Rudd Oakville Estate Cab 3.5 years
2002 Rudd Oakville Estate Cab 3 yrs
These images of Cabernet illuminate how a wine opens up as it ages. Both are 2002 Rudd Oakville Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. The photograph on the left was taken when the wine was younger by about 6 months before the image on the right. On the left is the younger, more closed wine which softened and opened up as it aged. Both were wonderful elegant wines.
And just so you don’t think the softening in the imagery is a fluke, here are two more cabs, actually “Bordeaux” blends, the 2006 Alpha Omega Proprietor’s Red, ten months apart. On the left is the younger wine, the aged opening up wine on the right.
2006 Alpha Omega Proprietors Red 3 yrs
2006 Alpha Omega Proprietors Red 4 yrs
THE BOOK: WINE’S HIDDEN BEAUTY
A GRAPE GROWS UP:
