How to check wine at home

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 test the wine for quality and quickly expose the counterfeit.

Water test

Since most readers of this article are not professional tasters, we suggest testing the drink with the help of improvised tools. To begin with, we want to talk about the simplest method. So, how to check the wine at home? To do this, take a large container of 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 observe what happens next. If the liquids do not mix, then the wine is natural. In the event that the colored trickles from the tube drain to the bottom, the drink is adulterated. Pay attention also to the mixing speed of water and wine, since it indicates the amount of impurities.

How to test wine for naturalness

If you doubt the result of the previous test, then use another simple test. Note that the following method is simple, like the first. For the experiment you will need wine and glycerin, which should be mixed in a proportion of five to one, respectively. Then observe the reaction of the components. If the wine turns out to be natural, the glycerine will sink to the bottom and remain colorless. In case the drink is adulterated, the glycerin will acquire a purple, red or yellow shade.

How to check wine at home

As you can see, there are a lot of 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 spoonful of wine onto it. The fake will retain the former color, but the quality drink will darken, turn gray or become a lilac shade.

Visual inspection

Experts say that it is easy to check the wine right in the store. To do this, you will only need to inspect the bottle. It is believed that good wines have a small sediment, also called a "wine stone". Its presence indicates the high quality of the drink, but it does not have to fill the entire bottom of the bottle. Therefore, before buying wine, turn the bottle over and estimate the amount of sediment. If it is a lot, then leave the wine on the shelf, if not enough, then safely carry it home. This rule works for both white and red wines. However, in the latter case, it will be more difficult to check, since 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 area? Try to evaluate by shaking the bottle (as in the previous case) and pouring the drink on the glasses. If the wine was made by all standards, the foam will gather in the center and disappear quickly enough. In counterfeit it will settle on the sides and will hold on long enough. By the way, at this moment you can at the same time conduct one more interesting test. To do this, rotate the wine glass as the real sommelier does and examine the walls of the dishes. This quality wine will leave on the walls the so-called "wine paths". It is believed that the longer the traces will hold, the better the drink. Also pay attention to their width, as the subtlety of the lines also indicates the quality of the wine.

Checking home wine

If you are used to doing 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 select a recipe via the Internet. But how to check home wine for readiness? There are several ways for this:

• Fill the empty bottle one or two thirds, and then shake the liquid. If the foam appearing on the surface will quickly fall off, then you have a good wine. If it remains for a long time, then the drink is spoiled.
• Next, you can carry out the same tests with home wine as with the one purchased in the store. You can also study the smell of cork, which closes the barrel.
• If you buy a home-made wine and doubt its quality, then try the next test. Pour the liquid into a glass and dip a few juniper berries into it. If they stay on the surface, then you are dealing with a quality drink. If the berries sink to the bottom, the wine was diluted with water.

Note that sour wine can not be made good, so use it to make vinegar. If the drink is exhausted, then try to save it with the help of quality vodka or alcohol. Pour the alcohol into the barrel, mix and leave to infuse for ten or fourteen days. If you want to improve the taste of your home wine, then try to pour it more often from one container to another or shake it. An unpleasant smell may appear during the preparation of wine, even if the technology of its preparation has been fully observed. To fix this flaw, put a large bunch of parsley in a canvas sack and dip it into the wine for a few days.

We hope that you will use our advice, and you can easily check the wine at home.