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Common Wine Flaws
Over
the holidays I was out at
a very nice restaurant in
our town. My friend ordered
a glass of wine, swirled
it, took a little sniff…and
then made a very funny scrunched
up face. Her wine was flawed.
She could tell immediately.
This started a chain reaction
within our crew. About three
other friends smelled theirs
and started passing the
glasses around saying, “Is
this flawed? I think mine
is flawed?” I took
a whiff of each of them
and the only one that seemed
truly flawed to me was the
first one. It made me start
thinking that we all need
a good lesson on what the
signs of flawed wine are.
How
often a wine is flawed turns
out to be a controversial
questions. Some people feel
that 1 out of every 12 wines
they consume is flawed.
Personally, I don't find
anywhere near that many
wines to be a problem, but
I tend to drink a lot of
younger wine. Wine flaws
are usually due to improper
production, handling or
storage, there are a fair
amount of things that can
go wrong with wine--most
of which should be cause
to return a wine if ordering
in a restaurant. Some restaurants
that are less educated in
proper wine service may
argue with you about returning
the wine, but if you feel
there is a problem. Stick
to your guns. Wine merchants
will also take back a flawed
wine. So if you come upon
a bottle that is flawed
save it and take it back.
Don’t pour it down
the drain. Any respectable
wine store will exchange
the bottle for you.
The
most common word you will
hear out of someone’s
mouth when they taste or
smell wine that seems “bad”
is that the wine is corked.
Corked wine has the flavor
of wet, musty cardboard.
Once you have really tasted
a corked wine, you'll know
what it is--it is not subtle.
It is caused by trichloranisol
2, 4, 6 (TCA), a compound
released by molds that can
infest the bark from which
corks are made. One theory:
you can't get TCA without
chlorine, which is used
to bleach corks (for aesthetic
reasons). If corks aren't
properly rinsed and dried
this problem can occur.
While
some people attribute all
flawed bottles to being
corked, there are a number
of other things that can
go wrong. A non-exhaustive
list follows.
Brettanomeyces(Brett).
Earthy and/or manure type
smells caused by the Brettanomeyces
strain of yeast. Liked by
some (for example particular
French and Italian wines),
disliked by many California
vintners. In small amounts,
can add "character"
to a wine. Too much, and
forget it.
Dekkera.
Another wild-yeast caused
flavor of fresh dirt or
cement. Liked by some (for
example in some Bordeaux,
Burgundy, Rhone and Italian
red wines), disliked by
many California vintners.
Dekkera can also come from
contaminated equipment and
barrels.
Madeirized.
Wine subjected to oxygen
or heat through poor storage
which ends up tasting like
Madeira or Sherry. No fruit
flavor left. Off-color.
Mercaptan.
Smells of garlic or onion
or even of skunk. I'm told
that this is much of the
cause of the "foxy"
flavor produced by grapes
native to North America.
It is said that the term
"foxy" came about
because their wines were
often made from the Fox
grape, where the flavor
was first seen.
Sulfur.
Burnt match
smell caused by too much
sulfur dioxide (used in
the winemaking process)
and rotten egg smells caused
by hydrogen sulfide from
bacterial contamination.
Depending on what it is,
it might go away if you
air the wine for a while.
Volatile
Acidity.
Smells of vinegar. May go
away if you air the wine
for a while.
Acetaldehyde.
If you've had sherry, you're
very familiar with this
character. In red or white
wines, an acetaldehyde character
is generally considered
undesirable. This character
can be nutty, musty, or
swampy. Some people may
claim that the wine is simply
"oxidized". This
last characterization gives
us a clue about the aldehydic
perception, as wines with
this flaw have often been
exposed to too much oxygen
(or air). Again, this character
might be desirable if in
small amounts, but can be
overbearing if excessive.
Sometimes such wines can
be flabby, dull and just
plain oxidized.
Cooked.
“Cooked” or
heat-damaged wines have
been improperly stored or
transported. Wines stored
above 55 degrees Fahrenheit
will experience accelerated
aging. If the temperature
gets really high, the wine
can expand and push the
cork partially out of the
bottle. You can sometimes
recognize cooked wines by
a streak of wine color up
the length of the cork,
a partially protruding cork,
or leakage. Red wines may
turn brown.
A
few things that aren’t
flaws are tiny glass like
crystals on the bottom of
the cork (or sometimes in
the wine). Assuming they
really aren't glass from
the winery, they probably
the result of tartaric acid
in the form of potassium
bitartrate (cream of tartar).
This is tasteless and harmless.
I've seen them many times
and they are harmless. Some
times you will see sediment
in the bottom of your glass
or bottle. Sediment occurs
as tannins combine with
flavor compounds in the
wine and fall to the bottom
of the bottle. This just
means that your wine has
not been filtered. As long
as it is not excessive,
this is not a flaw.
So,
what have we learned….
Be sure to smell your wine.
Some of these “flaws”
are acceptable in certain
amounts. Especially when
dealing with Old World wines.
If you think your wine is
flawed, ask your wine steward.
He/she should be well trained
in recognizing these problems
and will take your glass
or bottle back without a
problem. If not, think about
frequenting a different
restaurant and let the manager
know why.
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