SC - Ropy?

[Philip & Susan Troy]

LrdRas wrote:
> What is it that makes "ropey" a bad characteristic of wine? It was my
> understanding that this was caused by glycrin formation during the maleolactic
> stage of wine making. Does this not cause the finished product to have a
> smoother finish? If this roping effect (I assume you mean the "legs" percieved
> on the glass when tasting) preventable? And, if so, how;  and, at what stage
> of the fermentation process can it best be controled? Lastly, is not visible
> glcyrin and sign of higher alcohol content?

The answers to these, and many other exciting questions, are, simply, I
don't know. What I do know, on the topic, is that Taillevent includes a
couple of recipes for the treatment and rescue of ropy wine, so
presumably it was, at one time, thought of as a bad thing. IIRC, Andrew
Boorde also refers to the Welsh ale known as cwryw, as being
unpleasantly ropy. I always assumed it meant that the liquid had strands
of slime in it, giving it both an unpleasant taste and texture.

I suppose it's also possible that what constitutes "ropy" now, is
different from what it meant in period, but I don't know for sure one
way or the other.

Adamantius 
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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