Nuclear microprobe and optical investigation of sparkling wine bottles

Glass bottles, used for sparkling wine, are treated with freon during manuf acturing to harden the inside surface. Although this type of treatment norm ally improves the properties of the glass, in this case the occurrence of " egg" formations (egg-shaped rough areas) on distinct areas of bottles, as w ell as yeast sticking to the insides of bottles at specific areas pointed t o the possibility of different areas showing different properties in the sa me bottle. The question was whether the correct gas was used for the treatm ent, and secondly, whether the process was controlled well enough to obtain the correct properties for the inside of the glass. We present results of an optical microscopy and nuclear microprobe (NMP) investigation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.