fizz no more

In response to the previous entry, my friend Aaron (a big wine buff) sent me the following email.

your wine could be "fizzy" for a couple of reasons.

(1) secondary fermentation. this happens when there are left-over
sugar and yeast in the wine when it goes into bottling. it's common
practice for champagne and sparkling wine (hence the pop when you open
the bottle, and all the bubbles when the wine is poured). it's a flaw
if it's in dry, table wines. unless the bottle is super cheap, even
then it's a semi-rare occurance. i highly doubt this is the problem.

(2) this is probably the explanation. it's common practice in wine
making today for winery makers to add a little CO2 to the wine to help
keep it fresh while it's bottled. (it also adds a little kick to the
wine which some drinkers like.) anyway, sometimes the wine makes go a
little overboard with the CO2, add too much, and create "fizzy" wines.
unlike secondary fermentation, which actually changes the taste of the
wine, "fizzy" wines are not flawed. to correct them, simply pour
yourself a glass of wine (this glass will stay "fizzy"; there is not
way around this). seal the bottle with your cork, give a nice good
shake, take out the cork, and let your wine "de-fizz." it should be
fine after that.

So now you all know.