I have never had a wine go bad so cannot help do any of these match yours -
Here are 6 common wine faults, and how to identify them:
View more - How To Tell If Your Wine Is Bad
Corked Wine
The most common kind of wine flaw is called ‘cork taint’ (ie, when you hear people say a bottle is ‘corked’). This means that the cork of the bottle has been infected with a bacteria called Trichloroanisole (‘TCA’ for short). A ‘corked’ wine will smell and taste like musty cardboard, wet dog, or a moldy basement. It’s very easy to identify! Some wines have just the faintest hint of TCA- which will essentially rob the wine of its aromas and make it taste flat.
Only wines closed with a
natural cork will have this problem!
Screwcaps and synthetic corks will not have cork taint.
Oxidized Wine
When a wine has had too much exposure to oxygen, we call it ‘oxidized’. This can happen when a wine hasn’t even been opened yet (if the oxygen transmission rate through the cork is too high), or it can happen to a bottle of wine that’s been sitting open a bit too long. You can tell a wine is oxidized by the color: white wines will look darker than they should; red wines will lose purple undertones and look browner. The wine may have a vinegary taste.
Reductive Wine
The opposite problem of oxidation is something called reduction: when the wine has not had enough oxygen exposure, it develops sulphuric compounds and the wine will smell strongly of sulfur (think: a struck match). This is more common in screw cap bottles than natural corks. However, if you get a reductive bottle- try decanting it! The fumes can blow off and the wine may correct itself.
Fermenting Wine
This is when a wine that is NOT supposed to be sparkling, has developed little bubbles! The wine is re-fermenting inside the bottle, which in my experience can happen if the wine is stored at too warm a temperature- on the ship/truck, in the warehouse, or in a warm basement at a cheap liquor store. Definitely take the wine back if this happens to you!
Heat Damaged (or, ‘Maderized’) Wine
The wine has been stored at too high a temperature (probably in transit somewhere on the supply chain), and has essentially been ‘cooked’. It may smell/taste slightly ‘jammy’ or may have a brown sugar, cola, or soy sauce taste.
Microbial Infected Wine
Bacterial microbes naturally form in wine. However, sometimes they can overgrow and make the wine taste ‘off’. This is that ‘mouse’ smell, or gerbil-cage aroma (ew). This is more common in ‘natural’ wines that haven’t been treated with sulfur dioxide.
