That gritty-stuff resting at the bottom of some wine bottles shouldn’t really be viewed as a true wine fault.
Let’s go back to science class for a minute: Sediment comes about when naturally occurring tannins in a wine polymerize (cling together), making them larger and therefore more visible. This is a good indication that the acids and flavors of a wine have started to change and mellow out a little more. For this reason sediment can be viewed as a good thing!
The interesting point about sediment is that there’s very few firm guarantees as to where you will or will not find it. I’ve personally had 3 year old wines that threw a sediment, and 10 year old ones that didn’t.
How to tell if your wine is affected: Check-out the picture above. That’s what it looks like. Sometimes if you hold a bottle up-to the light you may be able to see it, but most of the time it will just be a “nice little surprise” for the last person to pour a glass. Serves them right for taking the last glass!
Your course of action: Sediment is completely harmless, although it doesn’t taste too great. Some wineries choose to put their wines through a process to prevent/limit the development of sediment, as drinkers often mistake it for a fault. Pour it slowly, or decant.
An Italian white wine named Est! Est!! Est!!! got its name from a medieval story (you decide whether it’s true)…. A bishop was planning to travel the Italian countryside and asked his scout to find inns that had good wines, marking the door with “Est” (“It is” or “This is it”). The scout was so excited about the local wine found in the area that he marked one inn’s door “Est! Est!! Est!!!” I’m not…
Poly_chem
Actually, those little “gritty” particles shown in your picture are tartrate crystals, not polymerized tannins.
Kris Chislett
On second observation you’re probably right. Hard to tell with a black and white image.