Other Wife says some of my wines "burn" her throat

[globalnavigator]

I was reading another thread on this site, and AZMDTed said:

"As for the sour or bitterness I don't know if we're talking the same thing, but I describe a 'bite' on my wines that are not sufficiently degassed. Whereas alcohol will give a mild 'warmth/burn/tingle' going down the back of my throat, CO2 causes a bite in the back of the mouth and a slight burn up the back of my throat."

Could that really be the simple answer, that I've been poor at degassing my kits? If so, how do I correct already bottled wines?

 

[heatherd]

I was reading another thread on this site, and AZMDTed said:

"As for the sour or bitterness I don't know if we're talking the same thing, but I describe a 'bite' on my wines that are not sufficiently degassed. Whereas alcohol will give a mild 'warmth/burn/tingle' going down the back of my throat, CO2 causes a bite in the back of the mouth and a slight burn up the back of my throat."

Could that really be the simple answer, that I've been poor at degassing my kits? If so, how do I correct already bottled wines?

I taste a bit if "burn" in my wines from the alcohol and from CO2. It could be either one.

 

[Johnd]

I was reading another thread on this site, and AZMDTed said:

"As for the sour or bitterness I don't know if we're talking the same thing, but I describe a 'bite' on my wines that are not sufficiently degassed. Whereas alcohol will give a mild 'warmth/burn/tingle' going down the back of my throat, CO2 causes a bite in the back of the mouth and a slight burn up the back of my throat."

Could that really be the simple answer, that I've been poor at degassing my kits? If so, how do I correct already bottled wines?

Short of dumping it all back into a vessel for aging / degassing, and then rebottling once properly aged / degassed, my approach would be:

1. Allow wine warm to room temp, shake the wine up a little, then pop the cork
2. Put a vacuvin stopper in the wine and do a little pumping, shake a bit, pump
3. Pour through an aerator and into a decanter
4. Decant / chill in the fridge for before serving.

Needless to say at this point, it's way better to make sure your wine is aged / degassed properly prior to bottling............

 

[AZMDTed]

We all have different palettes, sensitivities and ways of expressing taste so it can be hard to ensure that we're talking about the same sensation. A quick test would be to pour a glass of wine that gives her the burn. Let it come to room temp, stir it with a fork for 30 seconds or so. Does it foam more than just normal bubbles? Let it sit for a few minutes and then ask her to taste it. If the burn is gone, then good chance is that it was CO2.

John's suggestion is good, but I'm not sure about shaking up the bottle before decorking. After you pour the glass I mentioned above plus another for you, cover the bottle with your thumb. Shake it. In my experience all red wines will have a 1/4 to 3/8" of foam at this point. But if you have more than that then you still have CO2 to remove. Plus you will get a good pressure release when you move your thumb.

A vacuvin is a good resource to have in general, and is really good at degassing bottles that need a little more help.

 

[balatonwine]

Personally, if a wine burns as you describe, I always found it was not cold stabilized and had too much tartaric acid. Put some bottles in a cold fridge for a few months, and see if that helps.