The Angel's Share

         There is a term in winemaking used to describe the volume of wine that disappears during the ageing process.
         Whilst the wine is left in a darkened cellar somewhere, to age and to soak in the flavours of the huge oak barrels it is traditionally stored in, heat and humidity take their toll and turn as much as two percent of the barrel’s content into vapour. This vapour creeps through the tiny gaps and holes in the oak and escapes out into the air.
         Though, scientifically, it is entirely possible to retrieve the vapours that escape and condense them back into a liquid state, it is a course of action rarely - if ever - practised. Even if it were a financially viable option to do so, the winemaking process is a very delicate one and, once the vapours have mixed with the open air, the chance of collecting undesired elements is too great. For the sake of two percent, winemakers would rather not risk tainting the entire barrel, thus that volume of wine remains forever lost, floating up into the skies.
         It is what’s known as the Angel’s Share.
         Trust the winemakers to be the ones who turn loss into such beauty.