Bubbly taste...what was it?

[jezmund]

I am new to this board and have been focusing on learning more about wines lately. I have been a casual but frequent drinker in the last couple of years. Usually staying between $10 -$15 bottles of Shiraz, Merlot, Pinots.


My question is in regards to a bottle of Chianti that I had with a meal about 2 weeks ago. It had a bubbly texture, almost carbonated like you find in champagne. It was good, but very different than anything I had drank before and I was wondering what added that to the wine?

I can't remember which wine it was but cost was about $55 at a nice restaurant.

[Bucko]

Probably a little secondary fermentation in the bottle.

[jezmund]

Is that considered a bad thing?

[Thomas]

There should be no bubbles in Chianti. Sometimes, however, Chianti, and wines like it that are high in acid, seem bubbly on the palate--that's the acid at work.

Your description sounds like there were a lot of bubbles and if it wasn't the acidity then it had to have been a wine gone wrong--re-fermentation in the bottle will produce carbon-dioxide bubbles. Secondary fermentation, which is not the same as re-fermentation will also produce bubbles, but they will be less forceful and quite tiny.

[Bucko]

Picky, picky, picky.... somebody tie his shoestrings together....

[barnesy]

Could also be a sign of a wine that hasn't been abused with chemicals and filtration to stabilize it to death. A more natural wine that has some added character.

Barnesy

[Bucko]

I also read that some winemakers leave a little CO2 in their wine deliberately to help preserve it.

[romeo]

Actually, that was my reason for visiting this forum, I have had a couple of different bottles of Italian red lately (one a Chianti, the other a San Giovese)with the same characteristics. I know that both had been cellared for some time, and I was wondering what that zest or mild carbonation indicates? Bad wine, a well cellared wine? It was by no means unpleasant, but I figure I should know what I am tasting, and whether it is a characteristic that is normally associated with a wine that is going/gone bad.

thanks

JB