Occasionally, you might notice a small collection of crystals at the bottom of a wine bottle; we like to call them ‘wine diamonds’. We asked our chief winemaker Jon Heslop for a layman’s explanation about how and why they form, and his answer is below. We’d hate to see the technical explanation!
Tartaric acid is the most prominent acid in wine, with the majority of the concentration present as potassium bitartrate, also known as potassium hydrogen tartrate (KHT), or as the potassium acid salt of tartaric acid. In cooking it is known as cream of tartar.