Avenue Vine

This unique machine, the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Wine Spectroscope (NMR), is changing that. This one-of-a-kind machine tests the condition of a wine without opening or inserting probes. The wine is unaffected by the testing.

Natural bacteria in wine use oxygen from the air to turn alcohol into vinegar, or acetic acid. If a wine bottle is securely corked, the small amount of air in the bottle is quickly used up. If the cork is leaky and air gets in, the vinegar flavor eventually becomes strong enough to make the wine undrinkable.

NMR scans of wine show distinct peaks for water, ethanol and acetic acid, said Matthew Augustine, an associate professor of chemistry at UC Davis. That means you can measure the amount of each component,

Created by Dr. Matthew Augstine and his team at UC-Davis, the NMR measures the ethanol and acetic acid content of a bottle of wine.

Augustine and graduate student April Weekley designed equipment to put whole bottles of wine into one of their powerful magnets, so that they could scan a whole bottle without opening it. “The instrument can detect acetic acid at less than one-tenth the amount that would spoil a wine,” Augustine said.

(As alcohol is exposed to air, it turns to acetic acid—vinegar—spoiling the wine.)

They tested bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon wine from the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology's collection. Bottles from 1950, 1960 and 1968 were spoiled, while bottles from 1956, 1970 and 1977 were likely still drinkable, Augustine said. Although the oldest wine had the highest level of acetic acid, there was no relationship between age and alcohol content or likelihood of being spoiled. Examining the corks for apparent leaks also did not give useful clues about the quality of the wine, he said.

Augustine thinks that the technology, for which a patent has been filed, could be useful for auction houses and buyers specializing in high-end wines. It could also be adapted to look at other components of wine responsible for flavor, color, aging qualities and potential health benefits.

Standing about 8 feet high, NMR contains superconducting magnetic coils cooled to near absolute zero. This creates a magnetic field that can detect hydrogen nuclei in acetic acid. Work is underway to expand its repertoire to other wine elements, as well as flavanoids and aldehydes that develop as a wine ages.

About The NRM:

Using NMR to study full intact wine bottles
A.J. Weekley, P. Bruins, M. Sisto, and M.P. Augustine

Abstract:
A nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) probe and spectrometer capable of investigating full intact wine bottles is described and used to study a series of Cabernet Sauvignons with high resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy. Selected examples of full bottle 13C NMR spectra are also provided. The application of this full bottle NMR method to the measurement of acetic acid content, the detection of complex sugars, phenols, and trace elements in wine is discussed. 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

Keywords: Wine; Bottle; Ethanol; Acetic acid; Trace element

Fig. 1. Experimental setup used to obtain the NMR spectrum of full intact wine bottles in a horizontal bore magnetic resonance imaging magnet. The exploded views shown in (a) and (b) show the NMR probe heads used to measure 1H and 13C NMR spectra in full wine bottles, respectively. To ensure high resolution NMR spectra, the bottles are slightly tilted to prevent air bubbles from settling in the rf coil region. (Download complete .PDF file click here)

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Where the Davis NRM Ended UP:
The sole NMR is now owned by Restaurant Latour at the Crystal Springs Resort in Hardyston, NJ. “ The NMR machine could revolutionize wine buying. In the future, purchasers of fine wine will look for the NMR certification as a guarantee of the wine’s condition,” Says Crystal Springs’ owner, Gene Mulvihill.

Source(s): “Wine’s Secret Weapon,” Patricia Savoie, Wine Enthusiast, September 26, 2007; “NMR Scan Shows if Precious Wine Is Spoiled,” UC Davis News & Information, August 27, 2002 and “Using NMR to study full intact wine bottles,” A.J. Weekley, P. Bruins, M. Sisto, and M.P. Augustine, November 19, 2002

Additional Article
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November 06, 2006
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