Wine Faults
It's a sad day when it happens, but it does happen. You open your bottle of wine and something just isn't quite right.
There's a funny smell that you can't quite put your finger on, and the wine just doesn't taste how it should. But what could be wrong?
Identifying wine faults or problems can be a tricky thing, but use our guide to look for telltale markers.
NB - wine is a complex thing, and there are (sadly) more things that can go wrong than those listed, but these are the main offenders.
At the end of the day, none of them are actually bad for your health, and some you may find enjoyable! It's all down to personal preference.
Corked--red
Probably the most familiar issue, but also gets blamed when it was actually innocent! It is certainly possible for the wine to be affected by cork taint *without* having a cork in the bottle (it would've occurred in the winemaking process), but 99% of the time, the wine needs to have a cork to be corked.
If you pull the cork out and the wine is smelling like damp cardboard, wet hessian, a dog that had a bath and didn't get dried properly, or maybe just musty, cork taint could be the issue.
The scientific term is 2,4,6 trichloroanisole, which for obvious reasons is shortened to TCA in the wine community. Essentially it is airborne bacteria combined with chlorophenols that may originate in pesticides or preservatives used on cork wood trees.
Oxidised--aromatic
The second most common problem for wine, this is wine that has seen too much oxygen and has spoiled or gone bad.
Wine is a sensitive soul, and like a little bit of air but not too much. Prolonged exposure to oxygen will dull a wine, change the flavours and make it unpleasant. You know when you cut a fresh apple and leave it for a little while, it turns brown? That's oxidation.
Wine affected in this way will smell porty, sweet, caramelly, and may have changed colour. Whites will turn brown/yellow, and reds will turn tawny/brown.
Reduced--racy
Far less common, but on the same scale as oxidised, just at the other end. Reduced wines have not seen enough oxygen in the winemaking process, and this has led to the development of some unsavoury aromas. Smelling things like cabbage, rubber or cooked garlic? Reduction is probably the problem. Some wines affected in this way can be fixed, either by vigorous swirling in the glass or decanting, but others will be stuck like this.
Volatile acidity--aromatic
Some wines will be fine to drink, but will have an acetic edge to them, both on the nose and palate. The smell may be sharp and slightly vinegary, and the palate salty/sweet. In extreme cases this will render the wine undrinkable, but at lower levels, it may actually add complexity to the wine. This is the case for many of these faults - it's all personal preference.
Brettanomyces--cellar
"Brett" (or Dekkera) is a yeast that naturally occurs on the surface of fruit and grains. In large quantities in wine it can produce distinct aromas of smelly farmyard, damp band-aid, sweaty horse saddle and the like. Sometimes it veers towards a smoky character as well.
As with volatile acidity, some winemakers and drinkers actually enjoy these aromas in small doses. It is said that it can add a savoury complexity to the wines. It will however grow in the wine over time, eventually affecting the flavour of the wine and making it undrinkable.
Refermented // trapped CO2--plum
Ever had a still wine that was a bit fizzy?
It could've been on the way to being off, or it just might've needed a little help.
If the fizziness was accompanied by any strange tasting flavours, the wine may have started refermenting. This means that there might've been some yeast and sugar still in the wine and it warmed up enough to kick off a fermentation. This will generally result in strange tasting wine.
Sometimes however there is CO2 (a byproduct of fermentation) trapped in the wine, and this gives a slight spritz to the wine. An easy way to fix this is to decant it or give it a big swirl in your glass. This should fix it up quick smart!