Tears of wine

The phenomenon called tears of wine (French: Larmes de vin; German: Kirchenfenster, lit.

Wine is mostly a mixture of alcohol and water, with dissolved sugars, acids, colourants and flavourants.

The wine moves up the side of the glass and forms droplets that fall back under their own weight.

The phenomenon was first correctly explained by physicist James Thomson,[1] the elder brother of Lord Kelvin, in 1855.

Since surface tension increases with decreasing temperature, this leads to an enhancement of the Marangoni effect that, until recently,[3] had been overlooked.

British physicist C. V. Boys argues[6] that the biblical injunction, "Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright", (Proverbs 23:31) refers to this effect.