Gritty stuff in the wine? Don't worry, it's natural

While browsing recently in a wine shop, I watched a fellow returning a bottle of wine. The merchant asked what the problem was. Ever so inconspicuously, I inched nearer to listen in.

Most people don't return bad wine. They are more likely not to recognize the wine is bad, corked or whatever, instead thinking they didn't like the wine. So I was curious.

I noted the wine in question was an older Bordeaux, an '85 or '89. The chateau was a grand cru classe; the name is not relevant, suffice it to say I'd be happy having it on my table for a fine dinner.

The salesperson asked if the wine was corked. The client asked what corked meant. The salesperson explained that occasionally a bad cork can introduce an impurity that would spoil the wine, thus the term corked.

The easiest way to determine this is through the sense of smell, as the wine would have no bouquet or may smell like funky sneakers or old wet cardboard. "No, the wine smelled fine," replied the client. In fact, it had quite a nice aroma.

When the salesperson asked about the taste, the customer said it was really quite delicious. The problem, the client explained, is that the wine is dirty.

He explained that when he poured all the wine into the decanter, at the end of the bottle sediment came out, and when he and his dinner guests looked into the bottle, the bottom was caked with mud. He felt the winery had not washed the bottle or washed it with muddy water before filling it.

The salesperson explained the concept of sediment, that wine is an organic medium with all sorts of stuff in it — bits of grape skin, seeds and the like — and that some of the compounds could also crystallize, leaving a grit in the bottle.

He kindly explained to the red-faced customer that when you decant an old wine you do it slowly, watching and stopping when the sediment starts to come out.

The customer mentioned that they had been turning the bottle upside down and all around trying to look inside.

The salesperson declined to take the wine back, and the customer said he'd take it home, let it stand for a day, then drink it. Everyone was happy.

The point? The salesperson made it for me. Sediment is natural. It doesn't bother me all that much if there is only a bit.

The reason the topic is worth mentioning is that if you drink old wines, not-so-old shiraz or any good aged port, you'll have to deal with sediment.

Additionally, there is a trend away from filtration, with many winemakers feeling their wines are better left unfiltered, so you may be seeing more of this soon.