I remember reading an article back in the late 80's or early 90's about wine chemistry. I think it was in Scientific American or Discover. Basically, the conc

I remember reading an article back in the late 80's or early 90's about wine chemistry. I think it was in Scientific American or Discover. Basically, the conclusion they came to was that the difference between a good wine and a mediocre one had to do with the esterification that occurred during aging and the amount of vanillin leeched from the wood barrel. They indicated that you could probably take an inexpensive wine and add a little bit of vanilla extract to it and it would taste like a better quality wine. (Wine producers are prohibited from doing this sort of thing themselves, but you can do it at home.) Of course, this isn't going to make a bottle of mad dog into a palatable table wine, but it could improve an inexpensive table wine.