How can one tell if wine is bad?

One can tell if wine goes bad by smell. If it smells like vinegar then it has probably oxidized and gone bad, says Brian Hays, a chef and culinary instructor at Austin Community College. He has taught at the college for the past nine years. Oxidized wine is wine that has been in contact with air too long, causing it to darken and smell stale. High acid wines that are sour can resemble the smell of stewed fruit or damp straw. In low acid wines the smell can resemble vinegar or nail polish remover. Another way to tell is by looking at the color of the wine. White wine can change to a bright yellow or brownish color.

If wine has gone bad, chances are the wine was ruined by oxygen from a bottle being opened for more than a day or has not been properly stored in the refrigerator. A way to ensure you are not getting a bad bottle of wine from the store is to look for wines with screw-cap closures, says Kristen Wolfe-Bieler, a writer for GQ magazine at menstyle.com.

Another way to tell if wine is bad is if the wine has a faint aroma of mildew or tastes like must from the basement. This is called TCA, 2,4,6-Trichloraoanisole, which is basically a mold that grows on the cork and will actually convert the wine. TCA is a chemical compound that is one of the major sources of the "cork taint" off-odor. If the wine has a wet newspaper smell to it, it becomes a big problem to the consumer because the wine is wasted. On average, wine producers lose about 10% of all corked wines because of TCA. This problem does not pose a health risk to consumers.

There are no government agencies in any part of the world that have sought to regulate TCA levels in wine. Cork is a major source of TCA in bottled wine, although experts indicate that TCA in wine may be derived from sources other than cork, such as from barrels or other sources of a wood component, according to the wineinstitute. org web site. The website also states that many wines contain levels of TCA that are detectable by instruments but not by consumers. Therefore, one cannot determine what distinguishes a good wine from a bad wine by looking at TCA levels in wine. Most people are not trained to know what TCA tastes or smells like, so only a small fraction of bottles are returned. A great deal of research and work has been implemented to eliminate corked wine but no reliable method has been found yet.

Another way to tell if it is bad is if it smells like a port, but is not a port. If the wine has turned into a brownish color, then the wine has absorbed too much heat. This can happen from being stored in the attic or kept next to a stovetop.

To preserve opened wine is a tricky thing. However, keep in mind that heat is the number one enemy of open wine. One can keep wine in the refrigerator after opening for a couple of days to slow the oxidation process. Another alternative is to buy a wine stopper and pump. This item can be purchased at any wine store or kitchen supply store.