|
|
|
Patrick Farrell |
Then he met his current BevWizard partners, Mac Lindsay and Tom Thompson, who previously owned a company that used magnets to soften water and fuel lines, aiming for softer water and better mileage through better fuel efficiency. They were Two-Buck Chuck drinkers and thought their magnet could be used to soften that wine. So they made a prototype and tried it.
Impressed with the results, they approached Farrell in the gym where they all worked out. "No 'blinking' way," said Farrell.
But they kept hounding him, and so the BevWizard company was born.
What is it?
The BevWizard is one of several patented, aerating, electromagnetic devices that softens bitter tannins and mellows astringent wines and spirits. It consists of a food grade polypropylene body containing two potent neodynium magnets, which are a half-inch apart. If you remember as a child playing with magnets, as you bring the magnets closer and closer together, there is no attraction and then a small attraction followed by marked attraction.
The BevWizard has a grommet, which allows for it to fit on the vast majority of 750 ml and 1,500 ml wine bottles. There is also a spirits pourer that fits onto the majority of spirits bottles. The internal diameter of wine bottles is smaller than those of spirits bottles. Retail price is $27.95.
How Does it Work?
Farrell explained that "egg white fining, an essential procedure in many wineries, is based upon negatively charged tannins binding to positively charged proteins. That tannins change in the bottle to soften a wine is well accepted. That oxygen, via decanting, can accelerate this process is also accepted.
"Then why is it so difficult to accept that a strong magnetic field in the presence of oxygen may also accelerate this process whereby negatively charged tannins polymerize?" he said.
Farrell said his company ran preliminary studies in the spring of 2007, which found that the antioxidant capacity was unchanged by the BevWizard. Studies will be repeated in the next few months.
Farrell said that the problem is that they were looking for a needle in the haystack. He was initially looking for changes in the size of some of the polyphenols. As there are 3,500 different polyphenols in red wine, this was a daunting task.
"One thing that I have realized the further that I have researched the topics of tannins, bitterness and astringency is that the scientific understanding of these issues is still rather rudimentary," said Farrell. "My initial theory was that the magnetic field and the oxygen were causing the tannins to enlarge and become softer. As I've learned more about bitterness receptors, I have come to believe that the effect may very well be a more subtle change that alters that aspect of the tannin molecule binding to bitterness receptors on the tongue. Wine science and medical science are not quite yet on the same page regarding these issues."
Farrell has reached some preliminary conclusions about his product and the effects of the magnets:
1. The devices (BevWizard) decrease the bitterness and astringency of both wood and grape polyphenols/tannins.
2. The devices decrease weedy, vegetal notes caused by some pyrazines and terpenes.
3. The devices reduce barnyard notes caused by Brettanomyes to a variable degree.
4. Not all wines are improved as the mid-palate may be stripped in some wines having balanced, ripe tannins such as Pinot Noirs or Merlots rather than the thicker-skinned Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah or Nebbiolo. Again, we're talking about fairly young wines. (See next section.)
5. He believes that the magnetic field and oxygen act synergistically to effect these changes, and not sequentially (though this is possible).
6. Farrell thinks that the magnetic field alters the three dimensional shape of the negatively charged tannin molecule in such a manner as to facilitate the effect of oxygen upon those tannins. Rather than the effect of oxygen taking hours or days, the effect is immediate, resulting in a chemical change to the bitterness-causing component of the tannin molecule.
7. There are several possible mechanisms, chemically, with regard to these changes incurred by the tannins. One possibility is polymerization of tannins with tannins or tannins with polyphenols.
8. Another possible chemical mechanism of action is to cause the tannin molecule to fold upon itself, perhaps by affecting side chains that react with oxygen. This would alter that portion of the molecule that binds to the bitterness receptors on the tongue.
9. Another possible mechanism of action is that of changing the side chains and thus altering the binding to the bitterness receptors.
10. In keeping with research in the literature, it is also possible that the stereochemistry of bitterness causing polyphenols is changing to decrease bitterness.
11. A combination of all or some of these mechanisms of action may be in play as well.
12. As there are some 3,500 different polyphenols in a given red wine, finding the exact chemical changes may be a challenge.
Farrell and his partners hope to shed some light on the topic soon though they do not currently have the financial ability to fund any necessary studies.
Which Wines Work and Don't Work
Farrell has conducted many trials to see if all wines, or which wines, benefit from the BevWizard.
For a well-balanced wine, such as a Mondavi Reserve Cabernet, Farrell concludes that the device does not improve the wine and, in fact, may detract somewhat from the middle palate. Farrell thinks that most, not all, recently released reds and oaked whites are not balanced wines. Well-balanced wines will not benefit from the pourer.
Farrell said the device works pretty well on extracted and fairly heavily oaked wines, particularly in their youth. One trades a bit of the mid-palate for greater fruit, less overt oak and a longer finish. Using Bordeaux as an example, it works better in an "off" vintage than it does in a super-ripe vintage. It also works pretty well in diminishing green notes from Bordeaux, Chile and even Oregon. Farrell has tried it on a broad array of "high end" youthful reds, and it was beneficial to many, though not all, from such places as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Spain, Italy, California, Oregon, Washington, Chile, Australia and Argentina.
I have tried it on the 2001 vintage of Chateau Ste. Michelle reds, a vintage described by many in the press as hard and unattractive. The device, in my opinion, definitely softened the wines and made them more approachable.
However, staff at Wine Business Monthly tried both the BevWizard and The Wine Clip™ on four inexpensive California Cabernet Sauvignons and saw no difference in the wines.
Other Products
There seems to be a myriad of products devoted to smoother wine available on the market.
The Clef du Vin said it speeds up wine's aging by one year per second. This "wine key" is a dipstick-style device made with an undisclosed metal alloy and is now being stocked at some supermarkets.
Other wine magnets including the Perfect Sommelier and the Wine Enhancer, range in price from $35 to $149 and are offered on the Internet. These magnet devices use relatively weak magnets and seem to be even less effective than the BevWizard.
There is also The Wine Clip. The Wine Clip is, according to the company, a "revolutionary alternative to the lengthy aging process." The product, which resembles a metal hair clip, contains "state-of-the-art rare earth magnets" that are touted to break up tannins, leaving them less detectible. According to The Wine Clip website, "When wine passes through a magnetic field, a physical change occurs. The magnetic field has an effect on tannins, which are suspended in the wine. The tannins are broken down into smaller tannins. We believe that the taste of many small tannin molecules is smoother than the taste of fewer large tannin molecules."
When the product was first released, Wine Business Monthly employees tried The Wine Clip in an informal and unscientific tasting and, despite considerable skepticism, did sense a small difference in flavor and aroma. The second tasting by WBM staff, discussed above, produced no discernible results using The Wine Clip or the BevWizard.
Another new product is called Venturi.
A recent press release claimed the tool was "an excellent gift and elegant accessory." Vinturi's patent-pending design allows consumers to instantly turn a bottle of wine into one that has a better bouquet and that tastes richer, more flavorful with a smoother finish. Vinturi accelerates the breathing process of wine with ease and convenience, allowing consumers to harness all the benefits of letting a wine breathe in the time it takes to pour a glass... Simply hold Vinturi over a glass and pour wine through. Carefully designed to blend beautiful form with function, Vinturi draws in and mixes the proper amount of air for the right amount of time, allowing wine to breathe instantly. Immediately you'll notice a better bouquet, enhanced flavors and smoother finish."
This device costs $40.
Another product, the Breathable Glass, manufactured by German glassmaker Eisch Glaskultur, is a standard-looking glass that supposedly softens wines. Writer Dan Berger and MW and MS Ronn Wiegand have said it works. The company's press material said, "First, the shape of each glass has been specially designed to accentuate the character of the wine it holds. Second, each glass is made of the highest quality lead-free crystal glass that undergoes a special proprietary oxygenizing treatment. Together, these qualities allow the wine in the glass to fully aerate within minutes as opposed to potentially hours with standard stemware."
"To me it softens wines and pushes their fruit forward ... regardless of type or age. I don't know why (how) it works, but I do like the glass and use them every day, have for 3.5 years," said Wiegand.
In fact, Wiegand likes the glass so much that he is doing a joint venture with Eisch, a small line of breathable glasses that will be available in several months.
But when asked how the mechanism works, Wiegand explained, "I don't know how the glass works, truly. How it is made is a (Coca Cola-like) closely guarded secret that the company will not reveal to anyone. Not me. Not agents. No one."
Gee, could they have magnets ground into the glass?...
However, my experiments with this glass--blind--have me scratching my head with wonder; I found no difference between it and another similarly shaped Riedel (also designed with the grape variety in mind).
Smoke and Mirrors
Andrew L. Waterhouse, Interim Chair, Department of Viticulture & Enology and Professor of Enology (Wine Chemist) of UC Davis and John E. Kinsella, Chair in Food, Nutrition and Health, thinks wine magnets are smoke and mirrors.
"Magnets are the snake oil of the wine market," he said. "It is a great way to sell 25 cent refrigerator magnets for $25. Every year there is another vendor with wild claims--they all disappear in six to 12 months. Their pitches are all based on the power of suggestion, NOT the power of magnetic fields!"
Asked if he had run any studies on magnets, Waterhouse said, "We tested one years ago and couldn't detect a difference."
In Great Britain, wine writer and scientist Jaime Goode has been a particularly vocal non-believer.
Goode calls it bad science. "My problem with them is that because wine doesn't contain any components that will be responsive to magnetic fields, there isn't any way it could work the way the inventor proposes," he said.
When asked about tannin and their potentially charged nature, he said, "No, tannins can't be responsive to magnets because they are 'charged particles.' Think about an MRI machine--if magnets thousands times more powerful than the BevWizard's don't have any detrimental effect on human tissues, then I don't think the BevWizard will do much to wine." (Farrell has talked about sending a bottle of wine through an MRI machine!)
Goode has stated on his website, www.wineanorak.com, "Scientists are puzzled how magnetic fields could have these effects. Wine is not magnetic."
Goode has quoted Dr. Markus Herderich of the Australian Wine Research Institute as a tannin expert, who said: "I can't see any way this device could plausibly work, at least not based on the magnet. I would relate any effect to aeration of the wine while pouring. Also, one could speculate that the plastic might remove some tannin through absorption while pouring."
According to Goode, there is one published study testing the effects of magnets on wine. In 2005, Dr. James Rubin and colleagues from Kings College, London, published a paper entitled, "Drawn to drink: a double-blind randomized trial of the effects of magnets on the taste of cheap red wine" in the Journal of Wine Research. They tested the effects of The Perfect Sommelier (a similar product to the BevWizard, with reportedly less powerful magnets) on a Bulgarian wine. Of 60 participants, 29 preferred the magnetized wine and 31 the non-magnetized one.
"Unfortunately, our research leaves us no nearer to an understanding of how to improve the quality of cheap wine, and more research into this area is now called for," said Rubin.
James Cluer, a Canadian-based MW student doing his dissertation on the efficacy of the BevWizard, said he was conducting tests at ETS laboratories as well as running numerous and randomized blind tastings. If Cluer comes up with measurable results he could win a $1 million prize offered by skeptic James Randi, whose foundation and life mission is committed to providing reliable information about what he views are unobtainable claims. "We will pay $1 million to anyone who can tell the difference between wine that has been treated with any of the so-called 'wine magnet' devices, and the same wine untreated," claims Randi.
Farrell responded to these statements. "What's fascinating is that much of the regurgitated 'facts' about length of tannins and bitterness and astringency is probably very simplistic. Yes, as an extracted wine ages in the bottle, tannins polymerize with themselves and with anthocyanins, creating larger molecules which ultimately precipitate out of solution, yielding a smoother wine. But what about the polyphenol chemistry with grape ripening? With decanting? With pumping-over? With micro-oxygenation? We know that exposure to oxygen can make a wine taste less bitter and less astringent (the two are related yet separate issues), but do we, as a wine industry, know precisely the chemical changes induced by pumping-over or decanting?"
He continued, "Ann Noble published an article a number of years ago showing that stereochemistry changes of epicatechin altered bitterness. Given that there are some 3,000 plus polyphenols in red wine, finding the exact mechanism of action may be difficult. Certainly this will be the case if just a few polyphenols are causing the bitterness and that the changes induced are changes to side chains or changes to stereochemistry."
Farrell said that the Astree Electronic Tongue (administered by Alpha M.O.S.) is an objective, scientific test that is the gold standard for measuring bitterness in the pharmaceutical industry. It can also profile tastes of a beverage and is sensitive enough to discriminate between brands of orange juice, lager or whiskey. The folks at BevWizard had a study performed in France the summer of 2007 on five wines with and without the BevWizard; it showed significant differences.
Another test was conducted in France last summer with the Electronic Nose; one wine with Brettanomyes was identified among the five bottles. The BevWizard greatly reduced the problem, according to Farrell.
The scientific community is doubtful about the efficacy of magnets and wine, but Farrell remains a true believer.
Do they work? Can they work? Or is it all the power of suggestion? wbm
