When it comes to wine, scientists are, in fact, using radioactive carbon traces to determine a bottle’s age. Specifically, new research has shown that the amount of radioactive carbon captured in vines during a given year accurately measures the vintage of the wine, at least from 1958-1997. Hence, taking a wine’s “bomb pulse” — the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere eventually absorbed into the grapevines — is proving to be quite reliable for assessing whether a wine is fake or not.
