Wine Faults

Question 1

Ropiness

Answer 1

Wine becomes jelly like (common in natural wines)

Question 2

Corked (aka TCA, 2-4-6- Trichloranisole)

Answer 2

Wet cardboard, wet dog or musty cellar. Sometimes a corked wines will just lack aromas and have very subtle musty aromas.

Question 3

Reduction (aka Mercaptans, Sulfur Compounds)

Answer 3

Boiled garlic or cabbage. When a wine doesn’t get enough oxygen in the bottle. Decanting should help.

Question 4

Oxidised (aka Maderised)

Answer 4

Oxidised wines small flat and are brown in colour, much like an apple. Red wines will taste dry and bitter due to phenols (e.g. Tannins) interacting with oxygen. Oxidised white wines typically have a apple- cider like aroma.

Question 5

UV Damage (aka Light Strike)

Answer 5

When wines sit under supermarket lights for too long. This causes reduction.

Question 6

Heat Damage (cooked, maderised)

Answer 6

Wine quickly deteriorates at 82 Fahrenheit and cooks at 90 (32 degrees). Cooked wines smell like pheasant, caramel, or cooked fruits. They taste flat as there is no beginning, middle or end.

Question 7

Spritz and Bubbles

Answer 7

Wines that have fermented in bottle. These wines will usually be hazy, due to yeast and protein particles.