Summer 2024 Wine Crystals by Polarized Light Microscopy

by Dr. Robert Berdan
October 26, 2024

 Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 1. Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X


"A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world
"
Louis Pasteur


Over the summer I was commissioned to take photomicrographs of wine crystals for Stoneleigh, a winery from New Zealand. The creative agency was an Australian firm - TBWA Sydney. They sent me half a dozen bottles of Stoneleigh wines by Pernod Ricard. In return I sent TBWA images and movies. I also had the pleasure of tasting the fine wines. The creative agency also hired a Calgary film crew to film the process I use to make the crystals. See movie below. Stoneleigh wine is sold in Calgary and I recommend it. My wife and I favour their white wines. Below are some of the images and movies I made from Stoneleigh wines.

Pinot Gris Stoneleigh white wine crystals 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 2. Pinot Gris Stoneleigh white wine crystals 50X

I am not aware of anyone else that has produced similar crystals from wine and examined them with a polarizing light microscope. My son and I developed techniques to make crystals from wine in February of 2023 (R. Berdan and B. Berdan, 2023). If you are interested in making your crystals see this article “The Science & Art of Wine Crystals by Polarized Light Microscopy – Abstract Art”. We spent several months working out the right conditions and continue to experiment with different solvents and procedures in hopes of producing even more beautiful crystals. We don’t offer a step by step recipe for others to follow at this time, but you can read our article for clues as to how you might be able to create your own wine crystals. I do offer workshops on how to make and photograph crystals from a wide variety of chemicals by polarized light microscopy (see my workshops page). For more information on the history of wine crystals and tartaric acid see Z. Derewenda, 2008.  

Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X  by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 3. Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X

Different alcoholic drinks have been crystallized previously by Dr. Michael W. Davidson who passed away at the age of 65 on Dec 24, 2015. He promoted microscopy techniques and his photomicrographs were on the covers of scientific journals and neckties. He created educational information for major microscopy companies through his own web site “Molecular Expressions” and was located at Florida State University. I was inspired to try and make crystals from alcoholic drinks by some of his photomicrographs especially those from beer. Beer turns out to be difficult and it can take weeks before crystals form. I have only had modest success with beer so far (R. Berdan, 2019).

Stoneleigh Pinot Gris crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X bu Rpbert Berdan ©

Fig. 4. Stoneleigh Pinot Gris crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X

Crystals are generally formed by one of three methods  1) melting the chemical on microscope slides  2) drying a saturated solution or 3) freezing the solution on the slide. There are other methods which I also describe (Berdan, 2019). The concentration of the substance, the solvent used and whether the solution is heated all affect the formation of the crystals. Dr. Davidson did not fully describe his procedures, possibly so others would not copy him. There is a lot of variability in the making of the crystals though some crystals like Vitamin C and caffeine form very characteristic shapes. Colours are modified by rotating the polarizing filters, the microscope stage or using retardation filters - see reference section for more information.

Stoneleigh Riesling crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 5. Stoneleigh Riesling crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X

Each wine sample I have tried forms unique crystals, but the shapes and patterns vary enormously. The colours produced are influenced by the thickness of the crystals, their refractive index, and the use of retardation filters. The biggest variable is the photographer and what they choose to include or eliminate from the image. With some crystals I spend hours photographing one slide, but there are also slides that don’t form interesting crystal patterns.

For those wanting to make their own crystals I suggest using freshly prepared crystals and when storing the slides keep them covered to eliminate dust. Some dust can be removed using a pressurized air canister or from the photos with Adobe Photoshop. The slides can be stored for a few weeks, but tend to produce cracks as they dry out. It is important to keep notes of your procedures so you can reproduce your results. I use a stop watch to determine how long I heat the solutions on a hot plate - typically 1-2 minutes.

If you wish to make your own crystals I recommend starting with readily available chemicals first like Vitamin C, citric acid, and ABE callus remover. ABE callus remover is one of the simplest chemicals from which to make crystals, just smear a thin layer on a microscope slide, wait one minute and and view with a polarizing light microscope. ABE is available from Proton Nutrition and I was made aware of it by Dutch photomicrographer Loes Modderman. I also offer workshops year round on polarizing microscopy (see my workshops page). You can view crystals by polarized light by modifying an ordinary light microscope and inserting a linear polarizing filter below the specimen and on top of the eye piece. Retardation filters are available online, usually from the same supplier of linear polarizing filters.

Stoneleigh Pinot Gris crystals by polarizing microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 6. Stoneleigh Pinot Gris crystals by polarizing microscopy 50X

Retardation filters, also called wave plates will introduce more colors. These filters can be placed above the objective or below the condenser but must be between the polarizing filters. Rotate the polarizing filters or retardation filter and watch the colors change. You can also make your own retardation filters using Scotch tape (Sarah Wells 2022). Polarizing microscopes are the best option, but they cost more than a basic light microscope. I first read about how to use polarizing and retardation filters in a Scientific American Amateur scientist column (J. Walker, 1977). Today I use several polarizing microscopes. Many biological samples like hair, plants, wood sections and starch grains also display colour with a polarizing microscope. One of the best and affordable polarizing microscopes is offered by Motic, see my review (R. Berdan, 2021).

Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 7. Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy

In this article I share some of my favourite wine crystals I photographed over the summer from Stoneleigh. I don’t know if all wines will produce beautiful crystals, but so far I have been able to make crystals from all those that I have tried. It is not possible to look at the crystals and tell that they came from a specific wine because of the variability inherent in the process of making crystals and in the wines themselves. Different chemicals, however like Vitamin C and caffeine do have characteristic shapes that I can identify, but crystals from wines display a lot of variability.  

Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 8. Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X

I continue to extend the number of substances I examine and experiment in order to produce different crystal patterns and share them on this web site. The main reason I make the crystals is because the colours are the most brilliant I have observed in nature. Some of the patterns resemble plants, and abstract paintings. I think crystals are a perfect combination of Science & Art. There are others who photograph crystals by polarized light microscopy and I encourage you to view some of their work. One of my favourite photomicrographers is Marek Mis who features some of his work on this web site.

Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 9. Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X


Stoneleigh Riesling crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 10. Stoneleigh Riesling crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X

Stoneleigh Pinot Gris is a white wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinfera. The crystals are viewed by polarized light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 11. Stoneleigh Pinot Gris is a white wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinfera. The crystals are viewed by polarized light microscopy 50X

Pinot Gris grape photograph by Reinhold Möller © not public domain ©

Fig. 12. Pinot Gris grape photograph by Reinhold Möller © not public domain courtesy Wikipedia.


Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X. by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 13. Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X.


Fig. 14 Stonleigh Pinot Gris crystals by polarizing microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 14. Stoneleigh Pinot Gris crystals by polarizing microscopy 50X


Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarizing light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 15. Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarizing light microscopy 50X


Stoneleigh Riesling crystals by Polarized light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 16. Stoneleigh Riesling crystals by Polarized light microscopy 50X

Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 17. Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X

Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarizing microscopy by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 18. Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarizing microscopy, note the lack of smooth curves in these crystals 50X

Stoneleigh Riesling crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 19. Stoneleigh Riesling crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X

Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 20. Stoneleigh Chardonnay crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X

Stoneleigh Pinot Gris crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X by Robert Berdan ©

Fig. 21. Stoneleigh Pinot Gris crystals by polarized light microscopy 50X

 

Watch on YouTube

Fig. 22. How I make wine crystals in my home laboratory and examine them by polarizing microscopy

Fig. 23. Movie of Chardonnay crystals growing in real time. The growth rate of the crystals varies with temperature, the solvent used, and humidity.

 

Ruan Wheeler shooting with the Lawwa macro lens

Fig. 24. Ryan Wheeler shooting video of my wine crystal making process in my home laboratory. He is using a Laowa 24 mm F14-F40 lens for making closeups with a wide field of view.


Summary

The colours in wine crystals are due to the interference of light waves passing through them. Polarizing microscopy is used not only with crystals but to study many biological specimens like wood, plants and starch grains. The most enjoyable and challenging component of making crystals is finding aesthetic compositions.

The presence of "wine diamonds" a.k.a. crystals is viewed by many wine makers as a sign of high quality because it means that the wine was not over processed. Wine diamonds do not impact the taste of the wine but are sometimes found on the cork or bottom of the wine bottle. Wine diamonds are largely made up of Tartaric acid which plays a role in protecting the grapes from pests and it has some antimicrobial properties (Gurtler and Mai, 2014).The procedure for making crystals from wine is concealed for the time being, but you can read how we came to our method in the article by (Berdan and Berdan 2023). I continue to experiment in order to improve the procedures and their reliability. For now my hope is that these wine images might be considered as art and used for decorative purposes.


Additional References:

R. Berdan (2019) Crystals Photographed with Polarization Microscopy: Water, Beer, Caffeine, Vitamins, Amino Acids and Human Tears

R. Berdan and B. Berdan (2023) The Science & Art of Wine Crystals by Polarized Light Microscopy - Abstract Art. https://www.canadiannaturephotographer.com/wine_crystals.html

Z. S. Derewenda (2008) On wine, chirality and crystallography. Acta. Cryst. 64: 246-258

Michael W. Davidson The Varga https://www.theverge.com/2014/6/21/5830358/under-the-microscope-your-drink-is-a-colorful-piece-of-abstract-art

Michael W. Davidson (2012) Awesome Microscopic Photos of Alcoholic Beverages. https://mymodernmet.com/bevshots-alcohol-under-a-microscope/

Marek Mis (2017) The Hidden World - My Look at Photomicrography. https://www.canadiannaturephotographer.com/MarekMis_photomicrography.html

Marek Mis Photomicrography - mismicrophoto.com

R. Berdan (2021) Birefringence using a Motic Polarizing Microscope and the Michel-Lévy Chart (Part I)

R. Berdan (2022) Motic Polarizing Microscope to Analyze Birefringence with Fixed Retardation Plates and Variable Compensators (Part II)

R. Berdan (2021) Polarization Microscope - The Motic BA310 Polarizing Microscope a Review
One of the best polarizing microscopes in its price range.

J. B Gurtler and T.L Mai (2014) Tartaric Acid in Encylopedia of Food Microbiology (2nd Edition) Science Direct.

J. Walker (1977) The Amateur Scientist - Studying polarized light with quarter-wave and half-wave plates of one's own making. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-amateur-scientist-1977-12/ You can purchase the PDF from the web site.

Loes Modderman - Facebook site web site: https://deepdreamgenerator.com/u/scienceart She is now using AI (Deep dream generator) to generate art with her crystal photomicrographs

Homemade Polarized Light Microscope - MicroscopeTalk -https://microscopetalk.wordpress.com/projects/homemade-polarized-light-microscope/

Sarah Wells (2022) Surprising Colors with Scotch Tape. Physics 15, 147.

Ryan Wheeler - videographer in Calgary - web site www.mediapop.ca


Acknowledgements:
I thank Tayla Marlow producer for TBWA in Sydney Australia for this project, Pernod Ricard for the Stoneleigh wines, visit web site at https://stoneleigh.com/en-ca. Also I want thank Ryan and Lorrie Wheeler from Calgary for shooting the lab scenes - visit his web site (https://www.ryanwheelervideo.com/) if you need professional video in Calgary.

Stoneleigh wine bottles by Robert Berdan

Stoneleigh Wines from New Zealand available in Calgary

Note: Educators and students may use my images freely for reports and teaching. For commercial use please contact me. If you use my images online I appreciate attribution and a link back to this web page. All images are copyright but available for personal and commercial use.


Top of Page

Authors Biography & Contact Information


Portrait of Dr. Robert C. Berdan by Sharif Galal ©

Bio: Robert Berdan is a professional nature photographer living in Calgary, AB specializing in nature, wildlife and science photography. Robert retired from Cell\Neurobiology research to pursue photography full time many years ago. Robert offers photo guiding and private instruction in all aspects of nature photography, Adobe Photoshop training, photomicrography and macro-photography. Portrait of Robert by Dr. Sharif Galal showing some examples of Robert's science research in the background.

Email at: rberdan@scienceandart.org 
Web sites: www.canadiannaturephotographer.com  www.scienceandart.org
Phone: MST 9 am -7 pm (403) 247-2457.