Imagine:
You open a bottle of wine and pour yourself a glass, enjoying the occasion for a celebration. You swirl the contents of your glass appreciatively, and- there! At the bottom of the glass, something glitters. You look at the bottom of the cork and find… diamonds. Wine diamonds.
Wine diamonds are naturally occurring and in fact, harmless. They are made from potassium acid tartrate, a potassium salt commonly found in fruits—especially grapes—and can form in your wine during cold storage.
As it turns out, wine diamonds signify quality wine. The longer grapes are left to mature on the vine (which is a precursor for crafting a quality wine,) the more acid builds and accumulates, forming the starter of the diamonds.
The presence of wine diamonds is also a suggestion of the wine’s production process. Many manufactured wines go through “cold stabilization.” This is when the wine is intentionally cooled and left at a low temperature for an extended period of time, after which inclusions are removed. The appearance of wine diamonds in your bottle means your wine’s production process did not include this stage. This is a good thing, because it means it was “crafted” with less manipulation.
Why do manufacturers do this? Years of retail business and millions of bottles distributed, manufacturers and distributors received many bottles back from retail stores and had to credit (goodwill) for those bottles, consumers brought back or refused to enjoy a bottle because of the presence of wine diamonds. Many retail store clerks not knowing what it is or unable to explain are afraid of losing a customer or the customer is always right, prematurely offering exchanges or credits, which are passed on to the distributor and they to the manufacturer. A big accounting and customer service nightmare.
We believe in transparency and education. KingFrosch fans know for years if they open a bottle and find a wine diamond, they know that this is how we roll, all natural and we are doing it right, all the time.
So, if you find wine diamonds in your next bottle, consider yourself rich in both quality and experience!
