Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Walla Walla Wine Word for Dummies: Weekly Wine Word Wednesdays

Not this wine thief.
The Weekly Walla Walla Wine Word for Dummies is: Wine Thief

No, no, no. A wine thief is not a person who breaks into the winery in the middle of the night to steal your wine. While there may be dumb thieves like that, typically the term is a name for an invaluable tool for the winemaker to "steal" a bit of wine from the barrels. 

A wine thief is a larger pipette of sorts, usually made of glass or even food-grade plastic. The size is often anywhere from 12-24 inches long and styles vary, from straight to a bend at the end for an easier hand grip 
This wine thief.

The purpose of the wine thief is to draw wine out of the barrels for not only tasting the wine, but to use the drawn wine for specific readings such as: acid and pH testing, and checking sulfite levels.  No winemaker should be without one.

How does it work? Like a siphon - -  think turkey baster.

 

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