Oxidative Bottle Ageing: Amount and Pace, Not Chance

The standard

Controlled oxygen dosing names the source of the intake – closure, headspace volume or racking – and the expected rate. Without this information, oxidative ageing cannot be told apart from uncontrolled oxidation.

Criteria

• The oxygen source is named: closure, headspace or racking
• The rate is slow enough to produce development rather than breakdown
• Colour and aroma shift gradually, not abruptly
• The closure has a known oxygen transfer rate

Distinction

Oxidative bottle ageing ≠ oxidation fault: the difference lies in amount and pace, not in the process itself. Oxidative bottle ageing ≠ reductive bottle ageing: reductive ageing proceeds under oxygen exclusion. Without a recognisable controlled oxygen dosing as a frame, any colour shift becomes a suspected fault.