A few years ago the hot topic in wine science was the closures debate, and more recently it has been reduction. Now it seems that everyone is curious about the complicated interaction between oxygen and wine--a theme that incorporates both of the earlier hot topics, but which puts them in a broader context. Understanding the way that wine is affected by oxygen at various stages in its development is critical for winemakers who want to produce high-quality wines. But while it's been more than 100 years since Louis Pasteur first pointed out the love-hate relationship wine has with oxygen, it's only recently that wine scientists have focused their attention on this issue in earnest