You buy a bottle of wine that you are so excited to try. You remove the cork, pour a few ounces in your glass and take a huge whiff. Instead of fresh fruit and maybe some smoky aromas. It smells like you just walked into a cellar from the 1700's--a bit musty and lacking in fruit aromas and flavors. Has it gone bad? Does it mean it is cork'd? Does it have unwanted bacteria in it called Brett? Is it oxidized? Or is this the style the winemaker desired? Some people may just drink the wine because they don't feel confident it is truly faulty. In order to make an appropriate and educated decision to return a wine bottle to a store or to the sommelier at a restaurant, we will help decode the top wine faults.
Corked: What exactly does this mean? It does NOT mean there are bits of cork in your wine glass. That just means the person opening the bottle was inexperienced. It is a very specific term in the wine industry. Cork is a natural product that comes from tree bark. Naturally occurring air-borne fungi bump into industrial pollutants and pesticides with a molecule containing chlorine (chlorophenols). It becomes chlorine contaminated cork often called "cork taint". When the cork is in contact with the wine, it causes the wine to smell moldy, musty, or like wet cardboard with no fresh fruit aroma. Think of grandma's attic.
Oxidized: Oxygen is slowly allowed in a bottle over years in a cellar via the cork. However, if there is a faulty cork or too much oxygen allowed during winemaking, the wine will become ruined. An oxidized wine is easy to spot. It smells like old or tired Madeira or Sherry.
Volatile acidity: Poor winemaking or poor storage can cause something naturally present in small concentrations producing positive characteristics to turn into excessive concentrations and unwanted aromas/flavors. Acetobacter aceti is a bacteria that is on the surface of grapes. Exposure to oxygen (maybe from damaged fruit or not air-tight barrels) proliferates this bacteria and the result is an unpleasant smell of vinegar, nail polish remover, or paint-thinner.
Sulfur: Boiled eggs, onions, matches, burnt rubber or mothballs are not the aromas one likes to experience wafting out of a glass of recently purchased wine. If you smell these components, the winemaker used an excessive amount of sulfur which is commonly used in small doses as a preservative.
Crystals: If you see crystals in the bottom of the wine bottle or adhered to the bottom of the cork, don't fear the wine is not bad. Potassium tartrate is a natural by-product of wine. In fact, the cream of tartar you purchase in the spice section of a store is scraped from the inside of wine barrels. Usually winemakers cold stabilize or chill the wine to have these crystals naturally form and then they filter the crystals out. If they do not do this, the crystals will form in the bottle later.
Brettanomyces: This is the most controversial substance in wines because at low concentrations it produces great character in great wines. Often referred to as "Brett", this is a surface yeast or type of fungus, not a bacterium that is a common spoilage organism. It can be on barrels and wine equipment and once present, it is hard to get rid of. Brett is highly prevalent in wineries around the world. There is a threshold that is acceptable and not discernible by most people. But once you go beyond that threshold, aromas develop that are often colorfully characterized as barnyard, wet dog, sweaty saddle, Bandaid, smoked bacon or rotting vegetation. The wine lacks fruit and is exclusively found in red wine because of the high pH levels and tannins which comes from the skins of the grapes.
In conclusion, do not hesitate to bring the bottle back to the retailer or to the Sommelier at a restaurant if the wine is faulty. They are more than happy to provide you with a new bottle of wine.
Corked: What exactly does this mean? It does NOT mean there are bits of cork in your wine glass. That just means the person opening the bottle was inexperienced. It is a very specific term in the wine industry. Cork is a natural product that comes from tree bark. Naturally occurring air-borne fungi bump into industrial pollutants and pesticides with a molecule containing chlorine (chlorophenols). It becomes chlorine contaminated cork often called "cork taint". When the cork is in contact with the wine, it causes the wine to smell moldy, musty, or like wet cardboard with no fresh fruit aroma. Think of grandma's attic.
Oxidized: Oxygen is slowly allowed in a bottle over years in a cellar via the cork. However, if there is a faulty cork or too much oxygen allowed during winemaking, the wine will become ruined. An oxidized wine is easy to spot. It smells like old or tired Madeira or Sherry.
Volatile acidity: Poor winemaking or poor storage can cause something naturally present in small concentrations producing positive characteristics to turn into excessive concentrations and unwanted aromas/flavors. Acetobacter aceti is a bacteria that is on the surface of grapes. Exposure to oxygen (maybe from damaged fruit or not air-tight barrels) proliferates this bacteria and the result is an unpleasant smell of vinegar, nail polish remover, or paint-thinner.
Sulfur: Boiled eggs, onions, matches, burnt rubber or mothballs are not the aromas one likes to experience wafting out of a glass of recently purchased wine. If you smell these components, the winemaker used an excessive amount of sulfur which is commonly used in small doses as a preservative.
Crystals: If you see crystals in the bottom of the wine bottle or adhered to the bottom of the cork, don't fear the wine is not bad. Potassium tartrate is a natural by-product of wine. In fact, the cream of tartar you purchase in the spice section of a store is scraped from the inside of wine barrels. Usually winemakers cold stabilize or chill the wine to have these crystals naturally form and then they filter the crystals out. If they do not do this, the crystals will form in the bottle later.
Brettanomyces: This is the most controversial substance in wines because at low concentrations it produces great character in great wines. Often referred to as "Brett", this is a surface yeast or type of fungus, not a bacterium that is a common spoilage organism. It can be on barrels and wine equipment and once present, it is hard to get rid of. Brett is highly prevalent in wineries around the world. There is a threshold that is acceptable and not discernible by most people. But once you go beyond that threshold, aromas develop that are often colorfully characterized as barnyard, wet dog, sweaty saddle, Bandaid, smoked bacon or rotting vegetation. The wine lacks fruit and is exclusively found in red wine because of the high pH levels and tannins which comes from the skins of the grapes.
In conclusion, do not hesitate to bring the bottle back to the retailer or to the Sommelier at a restaurant if the wine is faulty. They are more than happy to provide you with a new bottle of wine.
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