Light Strike: Wine's Not-So-Secret Scandal

Wine Blast with Susie and Peter

Light strike is probably the biggest wine fault you've never heard of. Bigger than cork, bigger than oxidation or anything else.
That pretty-looking bottle of rosé perched on the bright supermarket shelf in a clear glass bottle? Probably knackered. If it's been exposed to light for a while, it may end up smelling of boiled cabbage, drains, or wet dog. At the very least, its character will almost certainly have been degraded from what its winemaker intended. And that's not what you're paying your hard-earned money for.
It's nothing less than daylight robbery. In this episode, we explain what light strike is, how fast it happens, and which wines are most at risk. We hear from experts, including the co-author of an illuminating recent research paper, and rage against the fact that the problem seems shockingly prevalent, but so little is being done.
We even carry out our very own applied research experiment (featuring bottles, funnels, argon gas and a blindfold) which gives unequivocal results. We call for wholesale change - from producers, distributors, retailers - and give clear advice on what we normal wine drinkers should do about all this (barricades, tyre burning and civil unrest are proposed...but not necessarily endorsed).
In this episode we hear from Panagiotis Arapitsas, Deepika Koushik, Liz Gabay MW, Brad Greatrix and Tom Stevenson. Our thanks to them - and to you for tuning in.
We love to hear from you so please do get in touch! Send us a voice message via Speakpipe or you can find more info, together with all details from this episode including on the wines, on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S5 E14 - Light Strike: Wine's Not-So-Secret Scandal.
Instagram: @susieandpeter

Chapters

1. Light Strike: Wine's Not-So-Secret Scandal (00:00:00)

2. Welcome (00:00:05)

3. What this episode's about: light strike (00:00:43)

4. The villains in the piece (00:01:39)

5. A sense of perspective on the problem (00:02:44)

6. Story time: The Emperor's New Clothes (00:04:45)

7. What is light strike, and what's the problem? (00:06:33)

8. What's the big deal?! You might say. I've never noticed an issue... (00:09:32)

9. Panagiotis Arapitsas speaks, part 1 (00:09:44)

10. Loss of wine identity - that's the issue (00:13:05)

11. Like playing your favourite song through a pillow (00:14:57)

12. How quickly?! (00:16:31)

13. MID-EPISODE RECAP (00:19:09)

14. Why put wine in clear glass anyway? (00:19:43)

15. What's the scale of the problem? Liz Gabay MW speaks (00:22:36)

16. Panagiotis also weighs in (00:24:34)

17. Deepika Koushik of Plumpton speaks about sparkling wine (00:27:11)

18. Brad Greatrix of Nyetimber uses dark amber bottles (00:30:21)

19. Green glass: good not great (00:30:51)

20. Our EPIC EXPERIMENT!! Featuring argon. And blindfold... (00:31:34)

21. What should be done about this issue? (00:37:09)

22. 'Clear glass bottles are madness ... they should be banned by law' - Tom Stevenson (00:37:46)

23. 'Stupid packaging in a smart world' - Panagiotis (00:38:36)

24. Back to The Emperor's New Clothes... (00:39:43)

25. What's our advice given our imperfect, light-struck wine world? (00:42:57)

26. Let's make wine great again! (00:45:36)

27. FINAL SUMMARY (00:45:44)

28. Outro (00:46:23)