Angel's Share Combats Wine Fraud: 14C Dating of Wine without Opening the Bottle.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Fahrni, Simon M.; Fuller, Benjamin T.; Southon, John R.
- Source
- Analytical Chemistry. 9/1/2015, Vol. 87 Issue 17, p8646-8650. 5p.
- Subject
- *WINE counterfeiting
*WINE industry
*WINE aging
*ETHANOL
*BOTTLE corks
*STABLE isotope analysis
- Language
- ISSN
- 0003-2700
The problem of fraud continues to plague the wine industry, and detecting cases where the original bottle has been refilled with an inferior vintage is especially difficult. A novel noninvasive procedure presented here relies on radiocarbon dating the so-called angel's share: the trace amounts of ethanol and other gases that diffuse into and through the cork as bottled wine ages and matures. These are collected by applying a vacuum to the top of the bottle and cryo-trapping the extracted gas, leaving the liquid contents untouched. Vintage verification is therefore possible without exposing the liquid contents to the atmosphere, which may render a bottle costing tens of thousands of dollars worthless for later resale and consumption. The method also has a potential for stable isotope ratio as well as chemical analysis to find indications for fraud or spoilage of fine and rare wines as well as other liquids with cork stoppers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]