This episode of “Wine 101” is sponsored by Mark West Wines. The U.S. has been obsessed with Pinot Noir since 2004, and it continues to be one of the most popular wines on the market today. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better Pinot with this level of balance than Mark West’s, especially at this price — less than $15!
As we journey further into the world of wine vocabulary, we encounter the term “ullage.” It originally comes from the Latin word “oculus,” which the Romans used to refer to a barrel’s cork hole. Hundreds of years later, the word was eventually adopted by the French, who morphed it into “ouillage.” Outside of France, ouillage became ullage, and it took on a new definition as a term for the space in a wine-containing vessel — whether that be a barrel or bottle — that isn’t taken up by the wine itself.
Ullage all starts with evaporation. While wine is maturing in the barrel, water — the principal component in wine — will start to diffuse through the pores in oak, working its way out into the atmosphere. Some alcohol will evaporate, too, but it does so in small, negligible amounts. If there is a lot of humidity in the cellar atmosphere, this evaporation will happen a lot slower.
As the wine matures, a pocket made up of water vapor, alcohol vapors, and traces of carbon dioxide will begin to form near the top of the barrel. And, assuming the stopper,
