Relating to a form of tartaric acid that rotates polarized light to the right, commonly found in grapes and cream of tartar.
From dextro- (Latin dexter, 'right') + tartaric (from tartar, the crusty deposit in wine barrels, from Arabic al-qali, 'plant ashes'). The term appeared as chemists discovered optical isomers in the 1800s.
Tartaric acid is so connected to wine that it literally comes from the tartar crust left in wine barrels—ancient winemakers had no idea they were sitting on a goldmine of chemistry!
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