Fahrni SM, Fuller BT, Southon JR. Angel's share combats wine fraud: (14)C dating of wine without opening the bottle.
Anal Chem 2015;
87:8646-50. [PMID:
26258285 DOI:
10.1021/acs.analchem.5b01998]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
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.
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