V.A.

November 21, 2019

Volatile Acidity. All wines have a tiny amount of V.A., usually, with any luck, imperceptible. In excess, V.A. causes a wine to have an unpleasantly sharp, vinegary aroma. Volatile acidity occurs because unwanted bacteria have produced acetic acid, the result of poor winemaking.

Mysteries of Minerality

“One day her mother said to her, ‘Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine. Take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good.’ “

—“Rotkäpchen” (Little Red Riding Hood or Little Red-Cap)
Printed in Kinder-und Hausmärchen, a collection of German fairy tales first published in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm

In 1989 and 1990, two California school districts in Culver City and Empire, respectively, banned this version of the tale over concerns about the mention of alcohol in the story.

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