I know you have all been waiting anxiously for the results of my eclipse experiments (if you have no idea what I am talking about, check out my first post on superstitions surrounding eclipses) to find out if the totality (or atleast 98%) had any effect on wine. Using the most scientific, state-of-the-art equipment, including my cell phone camera, plastic wine glasses, and eclipse glasses, I documented the effects of the solar eclipse on wine. Be sure to read the footnotes at the bottom.
Without further ado, here are the results!
The effect of a solar eclipse on white wine:
Chilled Reisling was put out after the start of the eclipse, when the shadow was just barely visible in the corner of the sun. The glass was swirled and photographed every 15-20 minutes (very scientific).
As you can see, as we progressed closer to the peak eclipse (we were at 98%), the wine started to change! The wine goes from crisp, cool Reisling (Kung Fu girl from Wastington State to a nice fruity rose (if I had to guess, I would say a Rioja Marques de Carceras).
Just before the peak, the wine started to turn into a light bodied red. So amazing! Just after the peak, the wine turned red! It looked remarkably like a Cabernet. It tasted like a red wine that had been out in the sun too long, I don't recommend it.
In conclusion, the solar eclipse turned the white wine into red wine*! If we had been in the path of totality, maybe it would have gone all the way to a Shiraz.
On to the next!
The effect of a solar eclipse on wine corks:
Okay, I know this sounds silly, but what else was I going to do with all my leftover corks? A pinterest project?! Like the other experiment, I put out a glass with wine corks as soon as we saw the shadow on the corner of the sun. Here are the results!
Incredibly, as the eclipse went on, the corks dissolved into wine! Who would believe it?** If you will notice, there are still two corks left at the end. My theory is that because we were not in the path of totality the chemical reaction wasn't complete. Oh well.
That wraps up my experiments with wine and the solar eclipse. Who would have believed that this celestial event would turn white wine into red, and corks into wine. Very exciting results.***
You may have noticed that I didn't attempt two of the promised experiments. As it turns out, no one is impressed by wine alchemy. I guess the whole turning things into gold has been done to death. As for the eclipse turning a wine glass into the Holy Grail, I guess Indiana Jones found it already and wasn't willing to lend it to me to use as a control.
I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable eclipse day! Stay tuned for my next wine experiment where I take a glass of Merlot to a David Copperfield show in the hopes that it will disappear or turn into the Statue of Liberty.
*The eclipse didn't do anything to the wine except make it warm and not as pleasant to drink.
**Nope, all the pictures are staged and no actual eclipse magic occurred.
***No one would believe it, because it is all fake and just meant to be humorous. In fact, meet the actors who helped me stage the pictures above. They did a great job! I would tell them to take a bow, but they can't, they are just wine bottles.
