Black break

The wine defect is caused by contamination of the wine with various metallic compounds. The "breakage" could be derived from "broken colour". The wine defect " brown breakage ", on the other hand, has a different cause. During the vegetation cycle, the vine also absorbs metallic trace elements via the roots, which are responsible for essential processes during growth. These include iron, copper, manganese and zinc. These are greatly reduced during vinification and are usually not the cause.

Corrosion of metals

In most cases, the cause is a lack of hygiene due to corrodible (mechanical wear and tear) cellar equipment such as harvesting trolleys, containers, presses, bottle caps or other metal-containing equipment. The reaction of metals with wine ingredients produces insoluble compounds such as iron phosphate, copper sulphide and zinc sulphide. Due to their catalytic activity, metals cause reactions with changes in aroma, masking of the typical varietal character, reduction in free sulphur dioxide, premature ageing and unnatural changes in colour.

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Black break

Corrosion of metals

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