Proton-beam technique dates fine wine

From physicsworld.com: headline news:

Nuclear physicists in France have invented a way to authenticate the vintage of rare wine without needing a sommelier's keen nose or even a corkscrew. The technique, which involves firing high-energy protons at wine bottles, can determine how old the bottles are and even where they come from. The new method could help unmask counterfeit wines — a growing problem in the wine industry, where a bottle can sell for thousands of Euros. Hervé Guégan and colleagues at the Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires in Bordeaux Gradigan (CENBG) bombard wine bottles with a 3 MeV proton beam produced by the AIFIRA particle accelerator. They then determine the chemical composition of the glass through an analysis of X-rays emitted by 15 different elements in the material (including silicon, sodium, iron and magnesium). Finally, Guégan's team compare the chemical make-up of the glass with that of 80 other bottles of known origin studied by the researchers. These bottles, which date from 1859 to the present day, come from private collections and museums in the Bordeaux region of southwest France.

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