Lightstrike may be ruining your wine before you even open the bottle. “The light is transforming some primary aromas into something normally not present in wine,” says Fulvio Mattivi, a wine chemist at the University of Trento in Italy.
He’s been looking into the lightstrike problem — which occurs when wine bottles are exposed to too much direct sunlight or artificial light — for several years now. These sources of light can cause chemical reactions in certain compounds, he says, which ultimately change the flavor of your favorite vino. At least 70 to 75 percent of all wine can be affected by this problem.
“It’s not something easily manageable by the wineries,” Mattivi says.
