Wine Flaws

[jv38]

One of the hardest things for me to learn related to wines are the flaws that can show up the wine. I do know that a wine could be Corked (TCA), cooked, tainted, oxidize, etc. The problem that I have is that when I try a wine that is flawed, I don’t know what is wrong with it.

For example, last night I opened a bottle of Montevina Zinfandel 2002. I opened this wine because I tried once and I like it, so I saw it in a special (a three bottle gift set for 17 bucks) and bought it.

Thing is that when I opened the bottle it have a smell like a room that have been close without fresh cool air with a humid carpet on it.

I know that this is not the characteristic smell of this wine, but I not sure what is the flaw that is causing this smell.

I just splash decanted the wine and left it for 15 minutes. The musty smell went away but the wine stay just closed, unresponsive, just plain death.

This happened to wines that I open once in a while and I’m not sure if is something that I’m doing wrong.

Other case was on two Italian wines that I tried some time ago. I was not able to enjoy any of those wines because the smell was of an overpowering aroma of Olive Oil. And the flavor followed suit. Again, the interesting thing is that I had tried the before and never had that problem. Decanting did not help, so I just dumped it.

I would like to know what that flaw was.

[robr]

The first one, with the musty smell and taste, had interacted with the cork. The second one, well, I don't know. Sounds like it was from a bad batch.

[AzWino]

jv

Are you buying your wines from a reputable wine store or at your grociers? Believe it or not this can make a big difference in the quality taste of a wine.

Most reputable wine or liquor stores will handle the wine with care, storing them in a cool cellar like atmosphere. Where your grocery store may have it stocked in a warm, hot store room.

Your wine store will also have the wines displayed laying on thier sides. Grocers normally have the wines sitting upright.

I could go on and on about the benefits of buying from a wine/liquor store but won't (lol). Yes you may pay a buck or two more but the the benefits are there. No I don't own or work in a store, but have bought many bottles from both wine stores and grocers and the wines always seem to be better maintained and of better taste/quality.

Good Luck, Good Drinking and Cheers!!

[Glass_A_Day]

Musty smells are from TCA taint. These wines are generally called "corked." If a bottle is only lightly corked the smell will sometimes blos off over time as you described. This is not a storage issue, but rather an issue with the use of cork as stoppers in wine bottles. Figures vary, but many consider one in ten bottles to have some level of being corked. THis is why many are leaning toward alternative stoppers which I believe is LONG overdue.

[jv38]

Actually this particular bottle that I wrote about was from Sam's Club. I suspect that this was from Gift boxes that were not sold during the holidays.

Normally I shop on my local Vino100 store, Sam's, Costco, and some times in the Total Wine shop (new in my area).

I would say for any 15 or so wines that I open I get one with this same problem. Never that bad that it have to be returned, but really suck that the one that you select for dinner on Friday night is the one that is flawed.

[wondersofwine]

Always good to have a backup wine (different producer) in case of a flawed wine.