How did the scientists measure oxygen movement without disrupting the wine?

They designed miniature bottle vials that mimicked standard wine bottle geometry but with much smaller liquid and gas volumes, acting as a magnifying glass for subtle oxygen and chemical changes. The reduction in total volume artificially amplified concentration changes, making them easier to measure precisely.

Where does the oxygen come from during the first six months?

The majority of oxygen entering the wine during the first six months comes from the cork itself, diffusing out of the microscopic spaces in the cork's cellular structure—not from the outside environment.

Why do longer corks allow more oxygen in?

Longer corks contain more oxygen trapped in their cellular structure, so they release more oxygen into the wine during the outgassing phase; in the final phase, longer corks (above 30 millimeters) showed so little oxygen transfer that the change was barely noticeable.

Back to articles

French scientists reveal cork breathing in wine bottles—oxygen enters from cork itself, not just outside air, suggesting wineries could one day choose stoppers to match their desired aging timeline.

Ars Technica AI1d ago4 min read

Key takeaway

Researchers demonstrated that wine cork breathing is far more complex than a simple seal, involving four phases of oxygen transfer over 18 months—oxygen escapes from the wine initially, then leaks from the cork itself, gets consumed by chemicals the wine extracts from the cork, and finally permeates slowly from outside. This discovery could allow wineries and cork makers to precisely match stopper type and length to a wine's desired aging timeline, solving a longstanding problem in the industry.

Summaries like this, in your inbox every morning.

3 Key Points

What happened
Researchers at the University of Burgundy built miniature wine bottles sealed with cork stoppers and monitored them for 18 months, discovering four distinct phases of oxygen transfer. In the first 15 days, oxygen dissolved in the wine escapes into the trapped gas. Over the next six months, oxygen leaks directly from the cork's cellular structure into the wine. Around four months in, the wine chemically extracts phenolic compounds from the cork, which then consume the oxygen released by outgassing. After 15 months, a slow steady permeation of outside oxygen through the cork begins.
Why it matters
Wine aging depends critically on controlled oxygen ingress—too little and the wine doesn't mature, too much and it turns stale and brown. Until now, wineries could not precisely measure how much oxygen a specific cork would allow over time, so they could not reliably predict when a wine would be at its peak. This work suggests future wineries and cork manufacturers could use detailed oxygen data to pair a specific vintage with a stopper that ensures optimal taste at a precise future date.
What to watch
The team has not yet conducted tasting tests and notes that cork is an inherently variable biological material—the next step is quantifying how the four oxygen mechanisms interact with different cork types and storage conditions over years. Karbowiak's group also aims to determine how much oxygen wine should contain at its optimal tasting point, which would enable makers to select the right stopper for preservation over a specific period.

FAQ

How did the scientists measure oxygen movement without disrupting the wine?: They designed miniature bottle vials that mimicked standard wine bottle geometry but with much smaller liquid and gas volumes, acting as a magnifying glass for subtle oxygen and chemical changes. The reduction in total volume artificially amplified concentration changes, making them easier to measure precisely.
Where does the oxygen come from during the first six months?: The majority of oxygen entering the wine during the first six months comes from the cork itself, diffusing out of the microscopic spaces in the cork's cellular structure—not from the outside environment.
Why do longer corks allow more oxygen in?: Longer corks contain more oxygen trapped in their cellular structure, so they release more oxygen into the wine during the outgassing phase; in the final phase, longer corks (above 30 millimeters) showed so little oxygen transfer that the change was barely noticeable.

Discussion

No discussion yet for this article

Stay ahead with AI news

Get curated AI news from 200+ sources delivered daily to your inbox. Free to use.

Get Started Free

Free · takes 30 seconds · unsubscribe anytime

5 minutes a day. The AI essentials.

200+ sources · Email / LINE / Slack

Get it free →