Andresky: Is lead decanter a concern?
Can you give some information on lead crystal decanters? I have a decanter set that was given to me as a gift. I use it to store my favorite scotch.
It is very heavy, so I have to assume it contains lead. I guess the scotch will go down the drain if the liquid contained in the decanter is stored for a long period. Wouldn’t there be a visible sign of hazing in the crystal if lead was leached? – RRR
Interesting question about hazing. Did you know a heavy leaded glass could actually bend with the right pressure? And, some heavy crystalware can be as much as 33 percent lead.
Many historians suspect the fall of the Roman Empire in part was from lead poisoning. The effect was attributed to lead pipes, lead drinking goblets and lead bowls. Romans heated grape juice in leaded vessels to make sapa, a sweet concentrate used with wine for cooking.
Usually the heavier crystal decanters contain more lead. Lengthy storage of still wines, fortified ports and madeiras, scotches and brandies can leach some lead from the crystalware.
Wine stored in a crystal lead decanter for a few hours is too short a time for dangerous amounts of lead contamination.
A recent study found a lead concentrate of around 5 mg/L in port wine left in a decanter for four months. Ten mg/L ingested in a short period is dangerous. The amount of lead leached from decanters is determined by the raw materials used to make them.
Research in Lancet suggested that lead concentrations in wine increased by 50 percent after an hour in a lower-quality, inexpensive decanter, but only 15 percent after three hours in better-quality crystal. Your scotch may not have the same acids as wine or ever get hazy, but just to be safe, long-term storage should be in lead-free decanters.
Recently my husband and I took a bicycle trip through Napa Valley. We saw a fan-like blade, about the size of an airplane propeller in the north end of a tiny valley. What did it have to do with grapevines? – Biker T
The rotary-blade you saw turns on automatically as ground-level air temperature nears frost warning. The blade mixes enough air to circulate with the lower-elevated hollow. You must have been at a higher elevation than on the valley floor to see this.
Cold air always settles first in hollows, so tiny well-protected valleys can become colder. Most wineries will accept lower yields from cooler climate areas instead of using these blades, watering vines or old-fashioned smudge pots to insulate from a hard frost.
While visiting relatives in Portland, Ore., we drove an hour outside the city to the nearby wine region. The wineries we visited all had rose bushes at the end of every row of grapevines. Why so many roses? – PC
Good observation. Portland is known as the City of Roses. And not just because of good gardening. Many rose bushes are planted at the end of grapevines and act as a warning against mildew. A springtime growing concern in rainy areas, mildew will first be seen on roses and thus be an early warning for the vineyard manager to spray and protect the vines.
In particularly wet seasons, many vineyard managers have said to me that they can actually see mildew creeping along a riparian road or a low road through wet, marshy land. This is yet another warning.
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