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Welcome back to The Wine Lab. In this episode, we take a closer look at Marsala, one of the most misunderstood fortified wines in the world.

Often dismissed as a cooking ingredient, Marsala has a long history as a serious wine shaped by fortification, oxidative aging, and deliberate patience. We explore how Marsala is made, the grape varieties that define it, and why oxygen plays such a central role in its aroma and structure. Along the way, we unpack the classification system, from Secco to Vergine, and explain how Marsala earned both its reputation and its recent revival.

This episode weaves together chemistry, history, and cultural context, from British naval trade routes to Sicilian tradition, and asks a simple question: what happens when a wine waits for you to slow down?

Buy it. Taste it. Share it. Appreciate the layers. And don't forget to stay curious!

Glossary

Marsala
A fortified wine with protected designation of origin status produced in western Sicily, known for oxidative aging and a wide range of sweetness and aging styles.

Grillo
A primary grape variety used in Marsala production, valued for its acidity, ripening potential, and tolerance to oxidation.

Fortification
The addition of grape spirit to wine to increase alcohol content and stability, typically bringing Marsala to 17 to 20 percent alcohol.

Oxidative Aging
A controlled aging process where wine is intentionally exposed to oxygen, contributing to aromas such as nuts, dried fruit, caramel, and spice.

Mosto Cotto
Cooked grape must used in Ambra-style Marsala to add color, sweetness, and flavor.

Vergine Marsala
A dry style of Marsala aged for a minimum of five years without sweetening or cooked must, emphasizing structure and oxidative complexity.

Acetaldehyde
An aroma-active compound formed during oxidative aging, contributing nutty and bruised apple notes when present in balance.

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Vermouth is everywhere, yet rarely examined on its own.

Often encountered through classic cocktails rather than the glass itself, vermouth plays a defining role in balance, aroma, and structure while remaining largely unacknowledged. In this episode of The Wine Lab, we slow down and treat vermouth as what it truly is: wine, shaped by fortification, bitterness, and deliberate design.

We explore vermouth’s foundations in neutral grape varieties, the use of grape spirit for stability and extraction, and the careful construction of botanical profiles built around wormwood, roots, barks, citrus, and spice. Along the way, we trace its emergence from eighteenth-century Turin, its ties to apothecaries and café culture, and its evolution into a cornerstone of modern drinking culture.

This episode examines why bitterness matters, how extraction chemistry influences sensory balance, and why vermouth behaves like wine once the bottle is opened. More than a mixer, vermouth reveals how intention, chemistry, and restraint can reshape what wine can be.

Glossary

Vermouth
An aromatized, fortified wine flavored with botanicals, legally required to include wormwood.

Wermut
The German word for wormwood, from which the term vermouth is derived.

Wormwood (Artemisia spp.)
A bitter plant containing potent compounds that provide structural bitterness in vermouth.

Aromatized Wine
Wine that has been flavored with herbs, spices, fruits, or other botanicals after fermentation.

Fortification
The addition of distilled alcohol, typically neutral grape spirit, to raise alcohol content and improve stability.

Neutral Grape Variety
A grape selected for low aromatic intensity and high acidity, used as a base to showcase added flavors rather than varietal character.

Sesquiterpene Lactones
Bitter compounds found in plants like wormwood and gentian that contribute to vermouth’s structure and persistence.

Maceration
Extraction of compounds by soaking botanicals in wine or alcohol over time.

Infusion
Gentle extraction of aromatic compounds, often at lower temperatures.

Aperitif
A drink consumed before a meal, traditionally intended to stimulate appetite.

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Madeira is one of the most resilient wines ever produced. Fortified during fermentation, intentionally heated, and slowly oxidized, it defies many of the rules that govern wine aging and thrives because of it.

In this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore how Madeira’s unique production methods developed through long ocean voyages, how fortification with highly rectified grape spirit shapes sweetness and stability, and why heating methods like estufagem and canteiro create such extraordinary longevity. Along the way, we trace Madeira’s chemical evolution, its role in history and literature, and the compounds that give it aromas of nuts, citrus peel, and caramel.

This is a story of wine shaped by travel, time, and deliberate stress, and a reminder that endurance can be its own form of elegance.

Before you go, pour a glass of Madeira, taste it slowly, and share it with someone curious. Some wines reward patience more than others.

Until next time, stay curious, cheers!

Glossary

Aguardente vínica
A highly rectified, neutral grape spirit used to fortify Madeira during fermentation, typically around 95 to 96 percent alcohol.

Boal (Bual)
A Madeira grape variety used to produce medium sweet wines with caramelized fruit and nutty aromas.

Canteiro
A traditional Madeira aging method where barrels mature slowly in warm lofts, heated only by ambient conditions, often for decades.

Estufagem
A controlled heating process for Madeira using tanks or heated rooms, typically applied to younger wines.

Fortification
The addition of grape spirit during fermentation to stop yeast activity, preserve sweetness, and increase alcohol.

Malvasia (Malmsey)
A grape variety used for the richest and sweetest style of Madeira.

Sercial
A high acid grape variety producing the driest style of Madeira.

Sotolon
An aroma active compound associated with walnut, curry leaf, maple syrup, and aged fortified wines.

Verdelho
A Madeira grape variety producing medium dry wines with smoky and saline notes.

Vinho da roda / Torna viagem
Historical Madeira wines intentionally sent on long sea voyages and returned to enhance flavor through heat and oxidation.

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Step into the steep, sunlit terraces of Portugal’s Douro Valley and explore how landscape, law, chemistry, and culture shaped one of the world’s most distinctive wines.

In this episode of The Wine Lab, host Dr. Andreea Botezatu traces the story of Port from the Douro’s historic demarcation in 1756 to the precise moment fermentation is stopped with grape spirit.

Follow the evolution of styles, from ruby’s vibrant fruit to the layered depth of long-aged tawnies, and learn how traditional lagares, the Benefício vineyard-grading system, and regulated aging all influence flavor and structure.

Along the way, Port’s presence in literature, art, and history comes into focus, along with thoughtful food pairings that highlight each style’s personality. A deep, engaging journey through a wine shaped by place, technique, and time.

Aguardente
A grape-derived spirit at 77% alcohol used to halt fermentation and fortify Port wine.

Anthocyanins
Pigments in grape skins responsible for red color; highly soluble in the ethanol-rich environment of Port.

Benefício System
The Douro’s vineyard classification system (A–F) that determines how much Port each vineyard is permitted to produce, based on quality factors.

Demarcated Region (DOP Porto)
The legally defined area in northern Portugal where Port must be produced to bear the name.

Foot Treading (Lagares)
Traditional method of crushing grapes with human feet in shallow granite tanks, maximizing extraction while avoiding seed bitterness.

Fortification
The process of adding grape spirit during fermentation to stop yeast activity and preserve natural grape sugar.

IVDP (Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto)
Regulatory body responsible for overseeing Port production, vineyard classification, and quality certification.

Oxidative Aging
Aging process, typical of Tawny Ports, where controlled oxygen exposure develops caramel, nut, and dried fruit notes.

Reductive Aging
Aging in environments with minimal oxygen exposure, typical of Ruby and Vintage Ports, preserving fresh fruit and color.

Sotolon
An aroma compound associated with oxidative aging; contributes nutty, maple-like, or warm spice notes in Tawny Port.

Vintage Declaration
Decision by Port houses to declare a year as suitable for Vintage Port, done only in exceptional harvests.

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In this episode of The Wine Lab, host Dr. Andreea Botezatu explores the scientific brilliance and cultural heritage of Sherry. From Andalucía’s luminous albariza soils to the flor yeasts that sculpt its aromatic identity, Sherry emerges as a wine shaped by geology, microbiology, and centuries of human expertise. We examine how fortification, performed after fermentation, determines whether a wine will age biologically as a Fino or oxidatively as an Oloroso, and how the solera system maintains continuity across generations. The episode also discusses sweetness levels, explaining how sun-dried PX and Moscatel wines are blended to create styles from Medium to Cream. With detours into Shakespeare, Poe, and Magellan’s voyages, this is a deep, compelling look at a wine that deserves fresh appreciation.

Albariza
A white, chalk-rich soil formed from ancient marine sediments. Highly porous and capable of storing winter rainfall, sustaining vines through Andalucía’s dry summers.

Asoleo
A traditional sun-drying process used for Pedro Ximénez (PX) and Moscatel grapes. Grapes are laid on straw mats to concentrate sugars before fermentation.

Biological Aging
Aging that occurs under a living layer of flor at ~15% alcohol. This process protects wine from oxidation and imparts acetaldehyde-driven aromas typical of Fino and Manzanilla.

Criaderas
The upper tiers in the solera system, each holding wine of progressively younger average age. Wines from these tiers refresh the older levels below.

Dulce
A very sweet Sherry produced by blending dry Sherry with PX or Moscatel wine or concentrated must. Contains >140 g/L residual sugar.

Flor
A naturally forming film of specialized Saccharomyces yeasts that floats on the wine’s surface in partially filled barrels. It metabolizes ethanol and oxygen, generating acetaldehyde and protecting the wine from oxidation.

Fortification
The addition of neutral grape spirit after fermentation to raise alcohol. Determines whether a Sherry will age biologically (~15–15.5%) or oxidatively (~17–18%).

Grape Spirit (Destilado de vino)
A neutral distillate made from wine, used to fortify Sherry without altering aroma or flavor.

Manzanilla
A biologically aged Sherry produced exclusively in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Noted for its delicacy and slight maritime influence.

Medium Sherry
A sweetened style created by blending dry Sherry with PX or Moscatel wine or must. Contains 5–115 g/L residual sugar.

Oloroso
An oxidatively aged Sherry fortified to ~17–18% alcohol to prevent flor formation. Rich, deep, and aromatic.

Oxidative Aging
Aging without flor, allowing controlled oxygen exposure. Produces darker color and flavors of walnut, spice, and dried fruit.

Pedro Ximénez (PX)
An intensely sweet Sherry made from sun-dried PX grapes. Known for flavors of raisin, molasses, coffee, and fig.

Solera
The lowest and oldest tier in the solera system, from sol (“ground”). Wine drawn for bottling comes from this level and is replenished from the criadera above.

Solera System
A dynamic, fractional aging and blending method using stacked tiers of barrels. Ensures stylistic consistency and continuity across decades.

Sweet Sherries (Cream, Medium, Dulce)
Styles created by blending dry Sherrie

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Icewine is one of the most challenging and extraordinary wines ever produced,a liquid born from winter itself. In this episode of The Wine Lab, Dr. Andreea Botezatu explores how a frozen accident in 1794 became one of the modern wine world’s most coveted styles. We travel from Germany to Canada’s Niagara Peninsula, through vineyards picked at –10°C, and into fermenters battling extreme osmotic stress, soaring Brix, and yeast pushed to its limits.

From the brutal harvest nights to the chemistry of freezing, from osmotolerant yeast to glycerol production, this episode unpacks the science behind icewine’s intensity and the economics, authenticity concerns, sensory profile, and even the best glass to pour it in.

A story of persistence, purpose, and prowess, this is icewine as you’ve never heard it: equal parts science, craft, and the beautiful madness of making sweetness in the dead of winter.

GLOSSARY

Icewine / Eiswein
Wine made from grapes naturally frozen on the vine and pressed while still frozen.

Brix (°Bx)
A measure of sugar concentration in grape must; icewine typically begins above 35°Bx.

Osmotic Stress
The pressure yeast face in high-sugar environments, slowing fermentation and challenging metabolism.

YAN (Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen)
The portion of nitrogen available to yeast; critical in supporting fermentation, especially in high-sugar musts.

Osmotolerant Yeast
Yeast strains selected or bred to survive fermentations with high sugar, low water activity, and strong osmotic pressure.

Glycerol
A fermentation byproduct that increases mouthfeel and viscosity, often elevated in icewine.

Norisoprenoids
Aroma compounds (e.g., β-damascenone) contributing notes of honey, dried fruit, and baked apple.

Monoterpenes
Aromatic compounds responsible for floral and citrus notes, especially in Riesling-based icewines.

Cryoextraction
Artificial freezing of grapes; not permitted in true icewine production.

Residual Sugar (RS)
Sugar remaining after fermentation; icewine typically ranges between 150–220 g/L.

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Before Champagne perfected the art of bubbles, there was pétillant naturel or pét-nat - the ancestral, gracefully imperfect way to make sparkling wine. In this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore the chemistry, the history, and the somewhat controlled chaos that defines this naturally effervescent style.

Why does pét-nat fizz differently? What actually happens when fermentation finishes inside a sealed bottle? And why are winemakers, from the Loire to California, falling back in love with this centuries-old technique?

From carbonic acid to crown caps, this episode reveals the science and spirit of a wine that refuses to be tamed.

Glossary

TermDefinitionPétillant Naturel (Pét-Nat) | A naturally sparkling wine made by bottling before primary fermentation is complete, so it finishes fermenting in the bottle (méthode ancestrale).
Méthode Ancestrale | The oldest method of sparkling wine production; fermentation finishes in bottle without added sugar or secondary yeast inoculation.
Méthode Traditionnelle | The traditional Champagne method involving a second fermentation in bottle, extended lees aging, and disgorgement.
Dosage | A mixture of sugar and wine added after disgorgement in traditional sparkling wines to balance acidity and adjust sweetness. Not used in pét-nat.
Lees | Dead yeast cells and other solids that settle after fermentation; can add texture and flavor when aged intentionally.
Autolysis | Breakdown of yeast cells over time, releasing compounds that add “brioche” or “toasty” notes to traditional sparkling wines.
Crown Cap | A metal cap similar to a beer cap, often used for pét-nat bottles due to lower pressure and rustic style.
Residual Sugar (RS) | Unfermented sugar remaining in the wine; in pét-nat, small amounts may remain depending on fermentation completion.
Carbonic Acid (H₂CO₃) | A weak acid formed when CO₂ dissolves in wine; contributes a slight tang and enhances perceived freshness.
Haze / Sediment | Cloudiness caused by yeast or solids remaining in unfiltered wines; common and expected in pét-nat.

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What makes Prosecco so different from Champagne or Cava?

In this episode, Andreea takes you inside the tanks (almost literally) to explore the Charmat method, the clever bit of winemaking engineering that gives Prosecco its bright, floral personality.

We’ll look at how Glera grapes, stainless-steel pressure tanks, and precise temperature control create a wine built on freshness rather than aging. You’ll learn what “tirage” and “dosage” mean in Prosecco, why it skips lees aging, and how its chemistry translates into texture, aroma, and food pairing magic.

By the end, you’ll know exactly why those bubbles feel lighter, taste fruitier, and disappear a little faster — and why that’s the whole point.

Glossary

• Charmat (Martinotti) Method:
  The tank-fermentation process used for most Prosecco, where the second fermentation happens in a sealed stainless-steel tank rather than in the bottle.
• Tirage:
  A mixture of sugar and yeast added to the base wine to start the secondary fermentation.
• Dosage:
  A small addition of sugar or sweetened wine used to adjust the final sweetness level of sparkling wine (Brut, Extra Dry, Dry).
• Lees:
  The spent yeast cells left after fermentation. Prosecco is typically filtered off the lees quickly, preserving freshness.
• Glera:
  The main grape variety used for Prosecco — formerly called “Prosecco” until the DOCG rules renamed it.
• Autolysis:
  The breakdown of yeast cells during extended lees aging, responsible for the toasty and bready notes in Champagne — largely absent in Prosecco.
• Isobaric Bottling:
  Bottling under equal pressure to retain dissolved CO₂ and prevent the wine from losing its sparkle.

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