While happily enjoying your glass of wine, you glance down. What on earth is that in my glass? Little pieces of glass? Sugar?
No! It’s tartrate crystals and you don’t need to worry about it at all.
There are a number of different acids found in wine and tartaric acid is one of them.
Tartartic acid’s potassium acid salt, potassium tartrate or cream of tarter, is only partially soluble in wine. Because of this, winemakers try to remove any excess tartrates from the wine before bottling.
Essentially, tartrates are a completely harmless cystalline deposit that sometimes forms in a wine with ageing or chilling. They can be found in both red and white wines and are nothing to worry about at all.
Many growers stabilise their wines before bottling to prevent this happening and you’re more likely to find tartrates in a cool climate wine that naturally has higher levels of tartaric acid. This is an easier option than educating the consumer!
So, don’t worry about it. It’s perfectly natural. And, for me, if I find tartrates in a bottle of wine then I’m almost happy! It means that there hasn’t been too much fiddling around in the winery going on. It’s the natural course of events.
