A glass of red or white wine is a great addition to dinner and a great way to cheer yourself up. However, not everyone can choose a noble drink. A huge number of bright bottles from a variety of manufacturers does not facilitate the task. In this article we will tell you how to check the quality of wine and quickly expose the fake.
Water Testing
Since most readers of this article are not professional tasters, we suggest testing the drink using improvised means. First, we want to talk about the simplest way. So how to check the wine at home? To do this, take a large container with plain water, and pour the wine into a test tube or other dishes with a narrow neck. Close the hole with your finger and lower the bubble to the bottom. Then open the neck and watch what happens next. If the liquids do not mix, then the wine is natural. If colored trickles from a test tube flow to the bottom, then the drink is falsified. Also pay attention to the speed of mixing water and wine, as it indicates the amount of impurities.
How to check wine for naturalness
If in doubt as a result of a previous test, then use another simple test. Note that the next method is simple, like the first. For the experiment, you will need wine and glycerin, which should be mixed in a ratio of five to one, respectively. Next, observe the reaction of the components. If the wine turns out to be natural, then glycerin will sink to the bottom and remain colorless. If the drink is falsified, then glycerin will acquire a purple, red or yellow hue.
How to check wine at home
As you can see, there are many ways to check drinks. They are quite simple and do not require specialized equipment. Therefore, we offer you another test. For the next experiment, you will need ordinary baking soda, which is found in every kitchen. Pour a small amount of powder into a plate, and pour a salt spoon of wine on it. The fake will retain its former color, but a quality drink will darken, turn gray or acquire a lilac hue.
Visual inspection
Experts say that it is easy to check the wine right in the store. To do this, you just need to inspect the bottle. It is believed that good wines have a little sediment, also called “tartar”. Its presence indicates the high quality of the drink, however, it should not fill the entire bottom of the bottle. Therefore, before you buy wine, turn the bottle over and evaluate the amount of sediment. If there is a lot of it, then leave the wine on the shelf, if not enough, then boldly carry it home. This rule works for both white and red wines. However, in the latter case, the verification will be more difficult, since the bottles for red wine are usually darker.
Foam Quality Assessment
How to check the quality of wine, if you are not a specialist in this field? Try an assessment by shaking the bottle (as in the previous case) and pouring the drink into glasses. If the wine was made to all standards, then the foam will gather in the center and disappear pretty quickly. At the counterfeit, it will settle on the sides and will last long enough. By the way, at this moment you can at the same time conduct another interesting test. To do this, rotate the wine glass as real sommeliers do and study the walls of the dishes. Real quality wine will leave the so-called "wine paths" on the walls. It is believed that the longer the traces are held, the better the drink. Also pay attention to their width, because the fineness of the lines also indicates the quality of the wine.
Checking homemade wine
If you are accustomed to do everything yourself or do not trust mass producers, then you can try to make wine yourself. To do this, you can use the advice of familiar experts or choose a recipe using the Internet. But how to check homemade wine for readiness? There are several ways to do this:
- Fill an empty bottle with one or two-thirds, and then shake the liquid. If the foam that appears on the surface quickly subsides, then you have a good wine. If she remains for a long time, then the drink is spoiled.
- Then you can carry out the same tests with homemade wine as with a store-bought wine. You can also learn the smell of cork, which covers the barrel.
- If you buy homemade wine and doubt its quality, then try the next test. Pour the liquid into a glass and dip a few juniper berries in it. If they remain on the surface, then you are dealing with a quality drink. If the berries sink to the bottom, then the wine was diluted with water.
Keep in mind that sour wine cannot be made good, so use it to make vinegar. If the drink is exhausted, then try to save it with high-quality vodka or alcohol. Pour alcohol into a barrel, mix and leave to infuse for ten or fourteen days. If you want to improve the taste of your home-made wine, try pouring it from one container to another or shaking it more often. An unpleasant odor may appear during the preparation of wine, even if the technology for its preparation has been fully observed. To correct this shortcoming, put a large bunch of parsley in a canvas bag and dip it in the wine for several days.
We hope that our tips come in handy and you can easily check the wine at home.