# oil on top of wine -prevent oxidation



## vacuumpumpman (Sep 22, 2011)

I was just wondering if anyone has talked about putting a little mineral in the carboy so it will put a small coat to help prevent oxidation. I know it sounds weird and all, but it has no taste, food grade, no smell,and when you transfer your carboys as the liquid goes down there is still no air contact. All the oil should stay on the bottom or on the sides of the carboy.

Let me explain = we are only talking less than 1/2 tablespoon or so

steve


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## DasK (Sep 22, 2011)

The romans floated olive oil on top of their wine because they didn't have corks.


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## vacuumpumpman (Sep 22, 2011)

I was reading about the olive oil several years ago, and after a bad air lock -
would putting oil on top help to prevent air getting contact with the wine ?

steve


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## Rocky (Sep 22, 2011)

We used to float olive oil on top of our one gallon jugs before corking them. It kept the air from the wine very effectively, but there was always a trace of oilive oil in the glass when the wine was poured. In theory, it should not happen, but it did. All this was prior to using (at that time) Sodium Metabisulfite. Once we started using it, we did away with the olive oil.


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## Lurker (Sep 23, 2011)

My friend Joe. Uses olive oil. His wine is always oxidised.


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## djrockinsteve (Sep 23, 2011)

If you max out your wine in your carboy to the knuckle and airlock it immediately the co2 will escape from the wine and lay on top of the wine (CO2 heavier than air) and help to protect your wine.

Some folks use argon gas. A quick shot in the carboy will lay underneath the CO2 and prevent oxidation.

Caution. If you breath in argon gas you run a huge risk of suffocating yourself. The gas will settle in the bottom of your lungs and you will not be able to get oxygen.


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## DasK (Sep 23, 2011)

djrockinsteve said:


> Caution. If you breath in argon gas you run a huge risk of suffocating yourself. The gas will settle in the bottom of your lungs and you will not be able to get oxygen.



Gah, that sounds worse than drowning!

So what do you do? Hang upside down?


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## djrockinsteve (Sep 23, 2011)

YES if you want to live. Exhale completely and inhale deeply. Repeat. 
Knowledge can save your life.


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## joea132 (Sep 23, 2011)

djrockinsteve said:


> Caution. If you breath in argon gas you run a huge risk of suffocating yourself. The gas will settle in the bottom of your lungs and you will not be able to get oxygen.



I don't mean to blow up your spot but this is completely untrue. Argon is heavier than air but the turbulent nature of air transfer in and out of the lungs effectively mixes gases during exhalation and will not drown you. Drowning inside yourself is an urban legend. No offense.

As a disclaimer if you have a leak it could settle to the bottom of the floor in your basement and could cause an oxygen deficient atmosphere close to the ground. This kind of situation would be dangerous for toddlers given the right circumstances being that they are close to the ground.


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## joea132 (Sep 23, 2011)

And yes I agree that air-locking and using reasonable doses of K meta is much more effective than oil. Although it does sound ideal on paper! PS I also use argon in all of my wines.


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## djrockinsteve (Sep 23, 2011)

Well it pays to research and not go by what someone else has told me. You are correct as long as you are getting oxygen in your lungs.

Thanks


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## vacuumpumpman (Sep 24, 2011)

Thanks for all the replys, If it sound too good to be true it proubly is not true !

steve


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## merlin (Sep 27, 2011)

I was also wondering about using Co2. O have a small tank I use for beer. So I were to put it on top of the wine in my tank, would it be useful? If so, how much is enough?


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## ibglowin (Sep 27, 2011)

Inert gas (including Argon) is good for short term solution of sorts. You want to always top off long term. Gently flow the gas into the headspace in order to layer the gas on top of the wine. You can use a long butane lighter as a quick test. Light the lighter, then insert the tip down into the headspace and if the flame goes out your generally good to go.


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