Wine on the Radio - June 4, 2003

Defective Merchandise

So, you find a great wine at a restaurant or take the recommendation of the proprietor of your favorite wine store.   Then, you proudly open the bottle and, "uh oh!"   This is not anything like I imagined.   Is it bad?   Turned?   Corked?   We talked to our expert, Patrick W. Fegan of the Chicago Wine School .  

How can we know when wine is bad?

"There are telltale smells when wine is bad and should be returned.

The most common is corkiness.   It's a smell caused by cork taint . . . like moldy wet cardboard. It's pretty common for about 3% of wines to be at least somewhat corky.

Also, if you get a whiff of a Sherry-like smell in your Chardonnay that means it's spoiled by too much oxygen contact.

Both can be controlled by the winemaker with careful selection of corks and clean handling of the juice and the wine.

More often, it's we consumers who hurt the wine.

Sometimes we crack a bottle and let it sit too long.   So, put the cork back in and throw it in the fridge to slow down the spoilage.

Don't be satisfied with wine gone bad."

If you have that experience, cork it up and take it back for exchange.

Then, pop the cork™.

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