How to Know When Wine Goes Bad
We live in a great time. With modern technology as it is today, many things that were very difficult in the past are now simple and far superior to the methods of yesteryear. This applies to wine-making as well. Because of quality ingredients, processing, manufacturing, bottling, and storing techniques, it’s very rare to actually produce what might be considered a “bad” wine. However, it’s not a perfect system and things can go wrong along the way that cause an otherwise good wine to go bad.
Wines can go bad due to improper shipping or handling, poor storage or temperature conditions, or a cork simply falling apart. No matter what may have caused a wine to go bad, there are fortunately some telltale signs of what to look for that will indicate when a wine has gone bad.
When you open a bottle of wine, give it a good sniff. While there are certainly a plethora of aromas to look for and savor in a wine, there are some smells that will only tell you that the wine has gone bad. Wines that smell like nail polish remover or paint thinner have a chemical imbalance problem. While there’s nothing dangerous about drinking a wine that smells this way, it probably won’t be the most enjoyable taste. These wines have definitely gone bad and should be poured down the drain.
Wine that smells and tastes like vinegar are also no good. All wines, given enough time and the right conditions, can eventually turn into vinegar. Grape juices turn into wine and wine will eventually turn into vinegar. Of course, proper fermentation, bottling, and storage should keep your wine in top shape for many, many years, but sometimes things happen that can cause a wine to enter the vinegar stage much earlier than you would want it to. So, unless you really like the taste of vinegar, go ahead and toss that bottle out or pour it onto a salad.
Wine that smells and tastes dull or weak is probably the victim of oxidation. Wine becomes oxidized when air has seeped into the bottle, usually through a cracked or faulty cork. Corks that are exposed to temperature fluctuations or very dry conditions can shrink or disintegrate, allowing air into a bottle of wine. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can save this wine from itself, so it needs to be tossed.
A wine that smells like a damp cardboard box or musty old sock with a flat taste is considered corked. This is caused by poor corking processes and is one of the most common reasons why a wine goes bad. The problem of poor corking is one of the main reasons that many wineries are choosing to use screw off caps rather than corks. While corks have traditionally been the distinguishing factor in determining whether a wine is expensive or not, this is changing due to the fact that modern technology has come up with a better, more reliable way to seal wine inside a bottle.
A wine that has suffered heat damage due to improper shipping or storage conditions will have a cooked or baked aroma because this is exactly what has happened to the grapes inside. They literally cooked inside the bottle. You might even notice that the cork is lifting out of the bottle or that wine has actually leaked out of it.
Finally, the wine may have just been bad from the start. If the wine has a moldy, rotten, dusty smell and taste to it, the grapes were probably not as fresh as they could have been when they were harvested and bottled. Now, don’t confuse this with a wine that you just don’t plain like the flavor of. There’s a big difference between a wine that has gone bad and one you just find tastes bad on your palate.
Hopefully, you’ll never have to encounter one of these bad wines, but if you do you’ll know how to spot it right away. Remember, life is too short to drink bad wine, so don’t!
