Grape Gossip - 'Waiter, there's a fly in my wine...' How to spot a dodgy bottle

To view previous Grape Gossips, Click here

We've all heard the old joke about everyone wanting one, but how exactly do you identify a faulty glass of wine, and what should you do about it? I've learnt a few things myself researching this, so read on and be enlightened.

When you order a bottle of wine in a restaurant, the waiter pours you a sample not for your approval of the quality of the wine, but for you to examine its condition - and you should do the same for yourself at home. There are a myriad of things that could be wrong with it, some of which are listed below, but most are difficult to identify without previous experience, so my first tip is:

Build your experience. It may not be the most pleasant thing to do, but if someone else spots that a wine is corked, ask to sample it yourself and log the look, aromas and (perhaps) the taste for future reference. You could even ask if we have any examples around next time your in the shop - we'll be happy to let you have a smell!

Look at the wine. Is it cloudy? Does it have anything floating in it? If yes then there could be a fault, or the wine may simply need filtering into a decanter to remove sediment. The colour of the wine can also be a clue to a fault. If a young wine is very brown (red or white), then it may be oxidized or cooked - smell carefully!

Look at the cork. If wine has seeped to the end of the cork. the wine may be oxidized and is probably 'cooked.' If you get to look at the bottle before opening (i.e. when you're in Reserve), check to see that the cork doesn't bulge over the lip of the bottle.

Smell the wine. Most faults are identifiable at this stage, which is a blessing as faulty bottles can taste disgusting! At the most simple level, try and discern whether the wine smells 'clean' or 'dirty'. Most wines, especially when youthful, will have a pure character to the nose when in good condition. Some common 'faulty' smells to look out for are… cardboard, damp cellars, burnt matches, rotten eggs.

If you spot something wrong on the nose, don't whatever you do taste the wine - it's not worth the pain, believe me!

A good tip to get nasty smells out of your nose is to smell your own skin - it helps neutralise the aroma receptors!

Taste the wine. Wines with faults will generally declare themselves on the nose, and should stay in the glass but
wines which only have minor faults may save them for the palate. You should also look out for effervescence in wines which should be still

So what should you do if you think the wines off? Simple really, just send it back! All retailers are legally obliged to replace faulty goods (within a reasonable time frame), and restauranteurs and wine merchants are no different. Some may wish to try the wine themselves, but at Reserve we take your word for it, so no embarrassing disagreements here!
If you're not sure, then just ask for advice - a good establishment will make sure you're drinking good wine. Many bottles of wine are dismissed as poor quality when they're actually faulty, and we hate that so don't be shy in coming forward!

The most common wine faults are:

Corked Wine. This is not wine with cork floating in it (which can easily be removed with a spoon), but is wine infected with a bacterial fungus called (in its simple form) 'TCA'. This usually comes from tainted cork, but can also be found in the winery on oak barrels and other equipment.
The wine will smell mouldy, with earthy aromas of cardboard, damp cellars, mushrooms and a general mustiness, which neutralize the natural fruit smells of the wine.
These aromas are mirrored on the palate, but avoid drinking corked wine if you can.
Some wines are more 'corked' than others - lightly corked wines can simply lack fruit character, but the taint will become more apparent if you leave the wine a little while. Oh, and a myth dispelled….. pouring the wine through cling film doesn't remove cork taint - I've tried and failed!

Cooked Wine. Wine which is kept in over-warm conditions, whether in the warehouse, shop, bar or home will slowly 'cook'. The most common sign of this is that the cork will bulge over the lip of the bottle, and when it's pulled, there is a line of wine which has leaked through.
The result for the wine is exactly as it sounds… the wine smells and tastes cooked.

Oxidised Wine. Oxidation can occur in the winemaking process, or in the bottle if the cork allows air in. One of its results is a build up of chemicals like Acetic acid or Ethyl Acetate, which can be avoided in the winery by careful use of sulphates.
These wines will have strong aromas of vinegar or varnish.

Sulphur Imbalance. Normally caused by mistakes in the winemaking process, an excess of sulphur is easily identifiable by the smells of burnt matches or rotten eggs.

Lactic Acid Bacteria. Wines which haven't had malo-lactic fermentation (don't ask!) can suffer from the presence of lactic acid bacteria, which can cause the wine to be slightly effervescent

Crystals. It's not uncommon to find small, glass-like crystals in a bottle of wine sometimes attached to the underside of the cork. These are usually Tartrate crystals, and can form when the wine has been kept in a very cool cellar. They aren't strictly speaking a fault as they don't affect the quality of the wine, but aren't very pleasant so should be filtered out.

Sediment Again, this is not a fault, but a natural bi-product of the ageing process. Wines which were particularly tannic when bottled tend to throw more sediment than those which were a bit softer. Either way, they're easily filtered out.

And finally..... Foreign Bodies. Literally a case of 'there's a fly in my wine'. Give us a chance, we can't help it if an insect wants to die happy!