Never Drink Bad Wine Again!
Before Uncorking…
This first line of defence is especially helpful to those who buy to drink at home. When browsing for a good bottle to buy, always check if the top of the cork flush with the bottle opening or if the cork is oddly jutting out or worse, is sunken into the bottle. This may indicate poor transport and storage conditions and oxidation may have occurred as a result, which is the literal kiss of death.
When opening …
Here again, the condition of the cork is decisive to the fate of consumption. When you uncork the wine, check the cork to see if it has turned dry, brittle and dusty. If that is the case, then sadly the wine’s most important defense from the elements has fallen. A dry, crumbling cork has likely let oxygen into the bottle, ageing it far too rapidly and spoiling it in the process.
When Swirling …
This is the first opportunity to actually check the wine right out the bottle for any tell tale signs of spoilage. As soon as you pour the wine, swirl the glass and check the wine’s colour. Any form of cloudiness, bubbles (for still wines) or colour that looks visibly strange is bad news. For red wines, a conspicuous brown tinge and in the case of whites, a darker shade of gold and opaqueness even, mean that’s end of that.
As you nose…
Now this might be a tad unpleasant but consider it an essential education to spare yourself any vinous grief in the future. Post swirling and assessing colour, nose the wine. Now, the aromas you are hoping not to discern, include nail polish vinegar, rotten eggs and a few others. Be assured that a good wine will not have any of these unsavoury notes that have come about as a result of oxidation and sustained exposure to heat. The rotten eggs smell can be the result of excess use of sulphites during wine making. Either way, dunk the wine now.
Taste to confirm…
And we finally come to it. The path towards drinking good wine is puddled with a bit of the bad. So take a wee sip of the wine and watch for a a sour, vinegar like flavour. The wine may taste flat which means acidity has effectively left the wine. Fruit flavours will feel visibly flabby – think caramelized or baked fruit instead of fresh. More so, those good instincts will kick in and the silver lining in the glass of doomed ferment is that you’re less likely to be fooled again.
Ofcourse, there is one sure shot way to ensure you ever don’t suffer another bottle of bad wine. Simply buy wines at thewinepark.com. Wine Park pays immense attention to wine storage and transport with the best of industry standard temperature control storage. Wine Park ensures home delivery of wines in the best possible condition. With Wine Park, you will never drink bad wine again.
