All about car tuning

Does the wine go sour? How to tell when homemade wine is ready. Reasons why homemade wine goes sour

Those who are involved in winemaking know that this is not an easy task. Growing grapes and learning how to make wine is only part of what is needed. It is very important to be able to recognize wine diseases, for example when alcohol has gone sour. What kind of disease is this, what are the causes and what can be done if the wine has gone sour?

Acetic souring, or souring, is a common and dangerous wine disease that affects both young and aged wines. Noble alcohol for a short time turns into vinegar and becomes unfit for consumption. The container in which such a product was located also becomes unsuitable for subsequent use.

To begin with, you should pay attention to what amount of acetic acid is considered normal for wine, and what indicates that it has become sour. A small amount of acetic acid is integral part wine, as it is formed at the fermentation stage of the wort. White wine varieties, for example, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, release 0.5-0.8 g/l of volatile acids after fermentation, and red wines - 0.6-1 g/l. Wines with a volatile substance content of up to 1 g/l are considered healthy.

In aged wines, the normal amount of acetic acid is slightly higher due to the fact that the volume of essential substances increases over time. For example, aged alcohol with indicators up to 1.5 g/l is the norm, while in young alcohol indicators more than 1 g/l will indicate that the fermentation conditions were violated, which resulted in the alcohol becoming sour. However, such standards are relative, since even a laboratory determination establishes only the approximate amount of acids in wine, without taking into account the content in esters.

You can tell whether alcohol has gone sour by the characteristic smell of acetic esters and the taste of acetic acid. When tasting such alcohol, a burning sensation is felt in the mouth, and a stabbing and scratching sensation remains in the throat.

If the process of acetic fermentation in alcohol has already begun, then it becomes impossible to save it. It can be restored only at the very beginning of the process, before it gets stuck.

One of characteristic features The appearance of this disease is a grayish film that forms on the surface of the drink. At first, such a film is thin and transparent, but as acidification progresses, it becomes denser, may have a pink tint, and also form folds near the walls of the container. When disintegrating, parts of the film sink to the bottom and form mucous masses called a vinegar nest.

In what cases does oxidation occur?

Acetic acid bacteria are part of fermented wine must, but they do not always lead to sourness of the drink. There are several types of such bacteria: acetobacter aceti, acetobacter xylinum, acetobacter kutzingia, acetobacter pasteurianum. Acetobacter aceti usually plays the main role in acetic souring. Acetic bacteria, which cause wine to become sour, develop for several reasons.

  • High temperatures, above 36°, and a constant flow of oxygen have a beneficial effect on the development of these harmful bacteria. They actively multiply and break down molecules of wine alcohol into ordinary water and acetic acid.
  • The vinegar midge, which actively reproduces during the winemaking period, is a carrier of acetic acid bacterial spores. The fly carries germs of bacteria, leaving large clutches of eggs in the cracks of vats, tongues, barrels and rubble. The best remedy Fumigation of premises with sulfur is considered to be an insect attack.

  • The bacteria are found on the grapes and from there they get into the must. Sick and damaged berries, grape pulp and pomace that remain in the press, slowing down fermentation - all this creates a favorable environment for souring to develop.
  • A high degree of contamination is created in vats with an open floating cap.
  • Free space in barrels that are not filled to the top is great for the development of bacteria and increases the risk that the wine will go sour.
  • Violation of sanitary and hygienic conditions and the use of dirty containers are common cause souring of alcohol.

Souring occurs quite quickly, within three to five days. When the alcohol content is less than 2%, bacteria cease to function. Such processes can occur both during the production of homemade wines and during industrial production.

What to do if the wine goes sour

When preparing at home, you should strictly follow the wine production technology. Acidification is a disease that is much easier to prevent than to try to treat it. To do this, preventive measures should be taken at the stage of preparation of ingredients and directly during the fermentation process.

Prevention

  • It is good to sort the components - remove rotting and damaged berries.
  • Maintain sterile cleanliness in the room, keep all instruments and utensils that will come into contact with the wine material clean.
  • Several times a day, the floating wine cap should be immersed in the wort to prevent the wine from becoming sour.
  • To prevent air from entering the wort, high-quality seals should be used. You can either buy them or make them yourself. A properly selected and installed water seal perfectly removes carbon dioxide from the container and is considered a reliable barrier to oxygen.

  • Wine should be bottled in standard bottles and then hermetically sealed.
  • Homemade wine should be stored in a cool cellar or refrigerator.
  • To prevent wine from becoming sour, it should be fixed with alcohol or vodka.

Adding preservatives

The use of chemical preservatives by wineries is considered to prevent the development of harmful bacteria. Special substances are added to wines in minimal doses, as they are dangerous to human health. The most common preservatives are sulfites. At wineries, sulfitation is done three times - during fermentation of the wort, at the end of fermentation and before bottling.

It is not recommended to use such substances at home. If there is still a need for such a procedure, then this should be done very carefully, strictly observing the proportions.

Sulfur was used in winemaking as an excellent preservative by the ancient Greeks. It prevented the wine from becoming sour, and the sulfitation process itself gave the drink a fresh and lasting aroma. Unprocessed gray alcohol quickly loses its original odor. Sulfur preserves the rich hue of the drink and makes it more transparent.

How to fix homemade wine if it's soggy

You have found out why homemade wine turns into vinegar, and now you will find out what to do to correct the situation, if it is not too late. The optimal period for rescue is the first 24-48 hours. The sooner it is discovered that souring has already begun, the greater the chance of saving the drink.

Pasteurization is considered the best way to save. The procedure is carried out as follows:

  • You should first carefully remove the resulting grayish film;
  • then pour the alcohol into sterilized bottles until they are completely filled. This is done so that the drink does not come into contact with air;
  • place such bottles in one large vat, at the bottom of which there is a wooden stand. The vat is filled with water, but so that the plugs rise above the surface;
  • the vat is placed on the stove, heated to 60-65 degrees and kept for 15-20 minutes;
  • The last step is to place the bottles in a cool place where the temperature is kept at about 9°.

How to remove vinegar from homemade berry wine

Dessert wines made from different berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries) turn sour very quickly if the temperature is disturbed. In such conditions, bacteria stop the fermentation of yeast and, accordingly, spoil the drink itself. Spoiled berry alcohol has a light transparent film and tastes like vinegar.

As soon as you notice changes in the fermentation of your homemade drink, it should be pasteurized and provided with yeast starter. Then leave it to ferment again. You can also mix spoiled wine with fresh marc and leave this mixture to ferment.

How to use spoiled wine

If time has passed and the wine has already become sour, it is used to make something that will be useful in the household - vinegar. This culinary ingredient is pleasantly refreshing and adds flavor to some dishes. The spoiled drink is uncorked and left in this form for a couple of weeks. The temperature in the room where the wine is located should be 20-22 °C. Then it is poured into a new container and used for its intended purpose.

Many novice winemakers very often encounter this characteristic problem. Most often, this happens due to violations of the drink production technique, non-compliance with proportions and sanitary conditions. Even wine made from high-quality raw materials can turn into vinegar if the process is not taken seriously. Have you encountered such a problem? Be sure to share your experience in the comments.

When making wine, technological conditions must be strictly observed. Otherwise, the fruit wine may acquire an undesirable quality or some other defect. Such a drink may not be suitable for consumption at all.

Defects that appear in wine and greatly impair its quality are called wine diseases. Diseases of some wines are caused by acetic bacteria and wine mold, aerobic microorganisms. These microorganisms are not dangerous to human health, but if they appear and multiply in wine, they can make the drink unfit for consumption.

The best environment for the development of both mold and acetic bacteria is a temperature exceeding 15 °C and a strength of less than 15%. It should be noted that bacteria develop with abundant access to fresh air. When bottling wine, the container should be filled as best as possible, because it is in incompletely filled containers that wine mold develops in the form of a grayish folded film and destroys the acids of the wine into water and carbon dioxide.

The appearance of diseases can be prevented, and those that have already appeared can be evaporated using the recipes that we give below.

The most common diseases are wine blight, vinegar and lactic acid souring.

Wine bloom (mycodema) appears on the surface of the wine in the form of a film that must be removed immediately, otherwise the wine will become watery.

Acetic souring is the defeat of wine by acetic bacteria. As a result, the wine takes on the smell of vinegar, and when there is a large accumulation of bacteria, it turns into vinegar. Wine containing such bacteria cannot be corrected, so it is better to immediately process it into vinegar.

In the initial stages, the drink can be corrected through pasteurization. The bottles are placed in a saucepan on wooden stands and filled with water. The bottles are kept at a temperature of 60–65 °C for 20 minutes.

Lactic acid souring (anaerobic disease) spreads mainly in the southern regions. Dry and sweet wines are susceptible to this disease. As a result, the wine loses its transparency and shine. The aroma disappears and an unpleasant odor develops sauerkraut.

Proper storage and pasteurization allows you to prevent disease and get rid of many unwanted hassles.

How to avoid wine diseases

In order to prevent unwanted wine diseases, the following conditions should be strictly followed:

1. Keep dishes, containers and various equipment used in the process of preparing wine clean.

2. When making wine, maintain cleanliness throughout all stages.

3. When making wort, take such a quantity of liquid or any other wort that the acidity strictly corresponds to the norm.

4. Do not liquefy the wort too much.

5. Sugar and water must be of high quality and pure.

6. Fermentation processes at all stages are carried out in accordance with the requirements.

7. Consume wine after the required aging period.

Determining the quality of wine. How do we know whether the wine we have in front of us is of high quality or damaged, and whether there is water in the drink?

First way

Place 1/2 or 2/3 full of wine into the bottle. Close and shake. If the foam quickly subsides, this is confirmation that we have a good, high-quality wine. If the foam stays on the surface for a long time, we have spoiled wine.

Second way

Shake the bottle slightly and pour the wine into a glass. In a quality drink, foam collects in the center of the glass. In spoiled wine, foam settles at the edges. The quality of wine can be determined by its smell by sniffing the sleeve that closes the barrel.

Third way

By appearance we cannot determine whether wine contains water, in other words, whether it is diluted with water. But this is easy to determine by doing the following. Place a small amount of juniper berries (10–15 pcs.) in a glass of wine and observe - if the berries remain on the surface, this means that we are dealing with high-quality wine.

The berries at the bottom will warn that the wine is diluted with water and it is undesirable to drink such a drink.

Preserving quality wine from spoilage

To protect wine from possible infection with any diseases, use the following method: you need to take 150–200 g of ash (aspen, beech or linden, it all depends on which trees are most common on your territory). Cover the barrel sleeve with a thick linen towel and pour sifted ash into it.

Turn 3–4 holes against the bushing. Place sod on the ashes, which after a few days is replaced with fresh one. You can safely use this method, since neither the taste nor the smell of the wine will be spoiled.

How to fix spoiled wine

If the wine still goes bad, don’t despair. The recipes below will help you cope with wine diseases and restore the original quality and taste.

Recipe No. 1
Make a sleeve from willow twigs, that is, tie the required amount so that the barrel is tightly closed. Place a handful of old nuts with the husks in the oven and roast until they turn brown. Place a small amount of willow chips on the hot nuts as soon as they are removed from the oven. Place the nuts with chips in a barrel and cover with a sleeve made from willow twigs. Insist for three days. The wine will improve quality.

Recipe No. 2
Pull out the nettles by the roots and rinse thoroughly under running water. Clean the roots with a knife, removing dirt and small roots. Sew a bag from a double layer of gauze and place the grass (which should be slightly dried after washing). Tie the bag and put it in the wine. Leave for several days. If the taste does not improve, repeat this operation 2-3 times. The herb will return freshness to the drink and relieve diseases.

Recipe No. 3
From the barrel containing the spoiled wine, pour 1/4 of it into an enamel bowl and place on low heat. After boiling for 30–40 minutes, pour into a container with spoiled wine. Stir lightly and seal tightly. This process will improve spoiled wine.

Recipe No. 4
The wine is strained several times to filter out as much yeast as possible. The drink is placed in a clean container and pure yeast is poured into it.

Melt 200 g of yellow wax over low heat, mix with 400 g of pure vodka. Place a clean towel into the resulting mixture and soak thoroughly. Light and let burn in the barrel sleeve, seal the barrel tightly. Leave for several days, after which you can use it.

Cloudy wine

There are various reasons why wine becomes cloudy. One of the reasons is the low alcohol content in the drink, i.e. the strength is less than 15%. Cloudiness may occur as a result of late transfusion, especially after vigorous fermentation; the thick mass that settles to the bottom, rotting, will also spoil the drink. The wine will become rancid and bitter.

Cloudiness of wine is usually a consequence of incomplete fermentation. Such fermentation, often violent, occurs at low temperatures, so the wine does not have time to ferment. This is where the turbidity comes from. To avoid this, you must strictly adhere to the prescribed temperature regime.

The wine is clarified with gelatin or fish glue. If it has not fermented, then it should be allowed to ferment, and only then clarified.

Cloudy wine may appear in barrels that were heavily fumigated with sulfur during processing. Fermentation in these cases proceeds slowly and is accompanied by strong turbidity, which is weaker the higher the alcohol content in the wine, and vice versa.

To fix it, you need to add sugar, which will speed up the fermentation process. For one bucket of wort take 1–2 kg of sugar.

Recipe No. 1
Place 100 g of sage and 100 g of hops in a bag. Tie tightly and place in a barrel of cloudy wine. After three days, remove the bag. If the dregs have not settled, repeat the procedure.

Recipe No. 2
Using pruning shears, cut a small amount of beech or walnut twigs. Place in a prepared container and fill with water. Place on low heat and cook for 1–1.5 hours. During this time, unnecessary substances will be digested. Drain the water, tie the branches and dry them. Place dry bunches in a barrel and leave for a while. When the mud settles, remove the branches.

Recipe No. 3
Tie raspberry leaves onto a string and place in a barrel. After the cloudiness has settled in the wine, remove the leaves.

If the wine is not cleared at one time, then string fresh leaves and place them in the barrel again.

Wine blossom

Wine bloom usually forms in a bottle and barrel that is not completely filled with wine and there is a fairly large air space. Due to the appearance of mold in wine, chemical processes occur, as a result of which the wine breaks down into water and carbon dioxide. To prevent the drink from being completely destroyed, the film that has formed on the surface is removed. If you examine this film under a microscope, it will look like a huge accumulation of filmy yeast. And before you start removing the film, you need to thoroughly destroy this yeast.

To do this, take a cigarette lighter and place a sulfur pot, which is lit and lowered into a container. The hole must be closed. If one wick burns out, then take a second, third. They must be burned until they burn. As soon as the wick has gone out (therefore, there is no oxygen), the container is tightly closed with a sleeve. Filmy yeast will die because it cannot live and reproduce in the absence of oxygen.

The next step is to remove the film from the surface of the wine. A rubber hose is placed in the barrel below the formed film, and the wine is poured into another container. The film with a small amount of liquid will be the last to pour out, so it is recommended to drain it separately. If, however, a small amount of film gets into the container, remove it with a clean rag soaked in the solution. hot water with soda. Wash the barrels thoroughly after molding.

Preventing wine from mold

Our recipes will help you keep wine fresh and improve the taste of moldy wine. Choose the recipe that, from your point of view, is more accessible. To check whether a given composition or process will harm the wine, you should try using a small amount of wine. Only after making sure that the recipe has been chosen correctly can you use it on large quantities of the drink.

Recipe No. 1
To protect fresh wine from mold, finely crush a small amount of borax and add it to the wine.

Recipe No. 2
This recipe also prevents the wine from molding. Heat a little salt in a frying pan and add it to the drink. Close the barrel thoroughly. Infuse for 7–8 days, after which strain the wine and place in the cellar.

Recipe No. 3
To improve the taste of moldy wine, pour 5 liters from a barrel. Place high-quality fragrant wine in an enamel bowl and put on fire. Boil, boil for 5-7 minutes, and then pour boiling water into a barrel of spoiled wine. Seal tightly and leave for 15–17 days. After which the drink can be consumed.

Recipe No. 4
Chop a small amount of pine bark containing resin and add wine. Cut shavings from birch bark. Lower them two days after the pine bark. Mix everything and leave for 7~8 days. This method will help clarify and refresh the wine.

Recipe No. 5
Take one apple per bucket of wine, remove the seed capsule, peel and cut into pieces. String the slices onto a thread, and tie a weight to the very end of the thread so that a few apple pieces are at the bottom. Do not use iron under any circumstances - if it is in wine, it will oxidize and spoil the taste of the drink.

Recipe No. 6
Place a handful of salt in a frying pan and fry thoroughly. Place in the barrel and close tightly with a sleeve. Salt will not do any harm to the drink; Only after a little time has passed, strain the wine and pour it into the barrel again.

Recipe No. 7
Bay leaves are used to improve the taste. Pour a small amount of wine into an enamel pan and boil. Add a little bay leaf, then boil over low heat for 7 to 10 minutes. Pour the resulting liquid into the moldy wine.

Recipe No. 8
Knead the dough and make a thin (5-6 cm in diameter) and long (30-40 cm) roller out of it. Place in the oven and bake until half cooked. Then take out the clove buds and put them in the dough. Place in the oven again and bake until done. Place the resulting gurney in a barrel. Its presence in the container will eliminate the unpleasant odor of the wine and destroy the taste of mold.

Acetic souring of wine

If the wine is sufficiently sour, then this deficiency can no longer be corrected. Therefore, such wine is best used to produce vinegar.

Mucus formation in wine

Mucus formation occurs in wine for various reasons. First of all, this is due to the low content of nutrients due to the strong dilution of the juice with water, souring, and also in the case of bottling unfinished wine.

The process of mucus formation can be prevented by fulfilling all the conditions necessary for the rapid and correct progress of fermentation. The wine is shaken to break up the mucus. The mucus is removed by pouring the wine into another container.

Wine that tastes yeasty

Wine acquires a yeasty taste if it remains unpoured after vigorous fermentation in a warm place. The yeast in the mixture begins to rot, and this imparts an unpleasant putrid taste to the wine.

The deficiency can be eliminated by pouring the wine into a clean container fumigated with sulfur.

How to fix stale wine

There are several ways to do this.

First way
Stir the wine in the barrel with a stick, then add 400 g of alcohol or good vodka, stir again and close tightly. Let it brew for 10–12 days, after which the wine will regain its lost quality.

Second way
Place the egg white into the prepared container and mix the mixture thoroughly. Then pour the egg mixture into the barrel and mix thoroughly. In three days the wine will be ready. Strain through a double layer of gauze.

How to fix sour wine

Beat lightly 4 egg whites and dip in 2 cups of peas boiled in jelly, add 1 bottle of milk and 1.2 liters of water. Dissolve salt in a small amount and then mix with the total mass. Pour the resulting mass into the barrel and let it settle.

Blackening of wine

The wort will turn black if it comes into contact with iron, even if only for a short time. Therefore, during the preparation of wine at all stages of production, the use of iron objects is strictly prohibited. All white and acid-poor wines most often undergo blackening: apple, pear, etc. In addition to the dark color, wines acquire an unpleasant taste when iron comes into contact with the liquid.

The taste is improved slightly by constantly pouring and shaking the mixture. If a wine contains a small amount of acid, add a more acidic one. Such a drink will become lighter, and sediment will form at the bottom, which is removed by pouring.

Recipe No. 1
In summer, collect rose flowers and dry them in the sun. Place dry petals in a prepared bag, tie tightly and place in wine. After two weeks, remove the bag.

Recipe No. 2
To improve the color of wine, take 1 glass of milk and 1 glass of wheat grains. Grind the wheat so that the outer skin comes off, or better yet, place the grains in a coffee grinder. Pour milk into the resulting mass and stir thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the barrel and close tightly. Infuse for 14–16 days. Blackened wine will regain its lost color.

Recipe No. 3
Sew a bag and place 200 g of elderflower flowers there. Tie the bag tightly and place it in a container containing two buckets of spoiled, blackened wine.

This amount of elderberry flowers is enough to make the wine suitable for drinking in 6–7 days.

Removing unpleasant odors from wine

An odor undesirable for wine may arise if the technological process preparations. Place a large bunch of parsley into the bag and tie it tightly. Dip into wine, close tightly and leave for 10-12 days, after which throw away the bag. If the smell still remains, do it again.

In contact with

Sometimes it happens that a wine does not live up to subjective expectations: it just doesn’t like it, doesn’t suit your taste. Well, in this case you gain invaluable experience and begin to understand wines even better. However, you need to be able to recognize those cases when the wine is really spoiled - you should part with such bottles without regret.

1. Oxidized wine

What is this? Have you ever observed how apple slices darken when left in the air? The same process happens to wine when it is in contact with oxygen for too long. Old, aged wines, as well as bottles that have been opened and left for a long time, are susceptible to oxidation.

How to recognize? Oxidized wines lose their taste and aromatic qualities. Red wine turns brownish-orange (brown) and tastes drier and more bitter. White wines are more sensitive to oxidation because they do not contain tannins, which perform an antioxidant function.

What to do? If the wine is already oxidized, there is no way to fix it. However, you can preserve open wine by using special corks. If you understand that the newly opened wine has been in contact with oxygen, this indicates a poor-quality cork or improper storage.

2. Cork disease

What is this? Chemical substance 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, or TCA, which enters wine through a contaminated cork or barrel and thereby spoils the corked wine.

How to recognize? Cork disease cannot be confused with anything else - in this case, the wine acquires a musty smell, reminiscent of dirty basements, wet cardboard or wet dogs. It is no longer possible to recognize any other shades of aromas. According to statistics, about 2% of wines sealed with traditional cork are rejected due to the insidious trichloroanisole.

How to get rid of it? Andrew Waterhouse, a professor of wine chemistry at UC Davis, argues that if you pour such wine into a bowl with plastic wrap, the latter will attract trichloanisole molecules and thereby rid the wine of it. However, life is too short to waste time on such experiments. Send this bottle back to the store!

3. Sulfur compounds

What is this? The presence of sulfur is a controversial issue for wine. For example, producers add sulfur dioxide to prevent re-fermentation and stabilize wine. If the technological process is disrupted, this can lead to the appearance of an unpleasant hydrogen sulfide odor.

How to recognize? A wine defect associated with the presence of the substance mercaptan (carbon disulfide) is easily recognized by a recognizable disgusting odor (rotten eggs, burnt rubber, skunk secretions, etc.). However, sometimes sulfur dioxide gases are so weakly expressed that only an experienced taster can notice them.

How to get rid of it? It is believed that decanting helps to cope with this defect. Although if the smell is clearly pronounced, you shouldn’t waste time on it; you shouldn’t drink this wine.

4. Secondary fermentation

What is this? Tiny gas bubbles in still wine, most often young red. This occurs if the wine is bottled with a small amount of residual sugar, causing re-fermentation to occur. This is typical in countries with low intervention in the wine making process, where little sulfur dioxide is used.

How to recognize? There are no problems with this defect - the bubbles are visible to the naked eye, the wine is poured with a slight hiss. Not every secondary fermentation is considered a defect - for example, in the production of some Grüner Veltliners, Vinho Verde and, of course, frizzante wines, winemakers strive for this effect.

How to get rid of it? No, but you should make sure that there really should be no bubbles in the wine. If this feature doesn't spoil the taste, you might even like it!

5. "Boiled wine"

What is this? The wine is destroyed by exposure to too much high temperature if stored incorrectly.

How to recognize? The wine acquires a sugary smell of jam, jam with hints of nuts and burnt sugar. Wine damaged by heat often becomes oxidized because the cork does not protect the wine from contact with oxygen under the influence of temperatures.

How to get rid of it? Focus on storing your wines and keeping them from overheating.

6. Bacterial damage

What is this? Not only yeast is involved in the process of turning grape juice into wine. If something goes wrong in the technology, colonies of other bacteria and microbes can become too active and change the wine beyond recognition.

How to recognize? Any warning signs that shouldn't be there - medicinal aromas, vinegar smell, cloudy color, presence of films, etc. Attention! Crystalline sediment in aged wines that have undergone minimal filtration is not considered a defect.

How to get rid of it? As soon as possible!

How to identify spoiled wine

Learning how to choose and drink good wine is just as necessary as learning to read, sing or play music.

The line between good quality and spoiled wine can be quite arbitrary: negative changes in it must accumulate in order to give a new - negative quality, but even in this case we can talk about the degree of spoilage. In addition, the individual sensitivity of different tasters (and even more so consumers) is not the same: what seems quite acceptable to one, another categorically rejects. Much also depends on the level of knowledge: it can be difficult for an untrained person to correctly evaluate some of the tones of a bouquet.

Therefore, it makes sense to divide the signs of wine spoilage into two groups.

Main features

It is enough for one of them to appear for the wine to be rightfully rejected.

Tones of vinegar or sauerkraut, indicating a disease of acetic or lactic sourness, respectively;

The smell of a cork is a characteristic tone imparted to wine not by the cork itself, but by the microorganisms living in it.

The taste of light, in other words, hydrogen sulfide, which is reduced in wine under the influence of bright light from sulfuric acid compounds;

Other pronounced foreign tones in aroma and taste (mold, rot, chemicals, petroleum products, metal, paper, asbestos, etc.);

A sharp imbalance between the main components of wine, which, as a rule, is expressed in an excessive increase in its acidity;

A clear discrepancy with the type, which can be judged mainly in relation to vintage wines;

Additional signs

They indicate a high, but by no means 100% degree of depravity. In restaurant practice, for example, wines in which a combination of several of these symptoms is observed are also removed from service.

A stable suspension that does not turn into sediment, making the wine opaque;

Excessive color oxidation. As wines age, they acquire a brownish-brown tint, but it should not be more pronounced than dictated by the age of the wine;

Intense oxidized tones in taste and aroma, usually reminiscent of boiled fruits and candied jam;

Gas bubbles accumulating on the surface of the glass, which gives the so-called “pearl effect”. The presence of such bubbles can be considered normal only in wines produced using a special technology (for example Muscadet) or in young white wines;

Foreign inclusions, which can be very different (twig, fly, etc.);

Inadequate (for example, in young, light or filtered wines) or excessive sediment - both crystalline and flaky;

Dry or wet to the very top, i.e. leaky plug;

Mold on the side of the cork and in contact with it. It should be borne in mind that the presence of dry mold on the side of the cork facing the wine and mold on the top surface of the cork has virtually no effect on the quality of the wine.

It must be borne in mind that even in the absence of the above signs, the wine in the bottle sometimes turns out to be spoiled. Sometimes you have to deal with the opposite phenomenon: alarming symptoms are evident, but the wine is completely benign. A reliable conclusion about its suitability or unsuitability for consumption can only be made as a result of tasting.

One of the first lectures at the wine school was devoted to wine diseases. At that moment it became a revelation for me, and I hoped that this information I will never need it, that’s why I didn’t pay attention to it in my posts. But about a month ago I bought Gewürztraminer wine at a well-known chain store. I brought it home, poured it into a glass and realized that the product was worthless. The feast for which wine was purchased was served with tea, and I decided to return the wine to the store. If it had cost 300 rubles, I might have been lazy, but it cost 1300, and I felt sorry for the money.

I spent two hours in the store, proving my case and filling out documents for examination, this is generally a separate topic - communication with clients there is simply at a rudimentary level, but this is not important now. The wine was sent, and yesterday the result came and the money was returned to me. Therefore, today I want to tell you how to understand that the wine is wrong and what to do.

I won’t bore you with terminology, I’ll tell you in simple language, to make it easier to remember what should not be!


1. What happened to my wine - signs of secondary fermentation, vinegary taste, wine plays and foams. Still wine (that is, regular wine, not sparkling) cannot afford this. Shake the bottle - a few bubbles - ok, but if the wine foams and plays (that is, bubbles, in other words), it means that oxygen has entered the bottle, and, roughly speaking, it has turned sour. Also, residual gas may be the reason that the wine was poorly cleared of bacteria, so a secondary process started and the wine began to ferment. It's a manufacturing defect, but it's not your problem. This wine will taste sour, but at the same time tasteless, perhaps a little bitter, and the bubbles will tingle your tongue. Important point– the wine must have acidity, but the acidity of spoiled, sour wine cannot be confused with anything.

2. Mold on the cork, which may appear due to poor storage. If mold appears on the outside, then in principle there is nothing to worry about; if you find mold on the inside side of the cork in contact with the wine, this is a reason to return the wine. The mold may not transfer into the wine, but it can give off an unpleasant musty smell.

3. Sediment– it is allowed in red wines; there should be no sediment in white wines. If you find gray, black or brown sediment, take the wine to the store. Sometimes small particles from the cork may float in the wine - this is not a big deal.

4. Each variety has certain tones in taste and aroma, even if the wine is not your style, you can feel the taste of a normal wine. If something goes out of bounds- a vegetable smell, the smell of rotten eggs or a rotten apple, in a word - something unpleasant, this is a reason to seriously think about it. For example, if during production there was contact between wine and copper, then the wine will have the smell of a wet floor rag and a red sediment. True, I've never seen anything like this.

5. Color– the wine should be clear, if you understand that the wine is cloudy, then something is wrong with it.

By personal experience I can say that it is secondary and acetic fermentation that occur most often. At wine school we were told that because of such a defect, we once had to recall the entire batch from sale. Therefore, if you bought wine and felt something unpleasant (not “not tasty”, but unpleasant) - this is a reason to think about it and contact the store where you bought the wine.

If you decide to go to the store and defend your rights, then be prepared that you will most likely not be welcome. In Europe, money is returned with an apology. For us, it’s unlikely. Maximum - they will offer to exchange the bottle. This option was offered to me, but the second bottle had the same defects - when shaken lightly, the wine noticeably played and foamed, so I insisted on an examination, although, of course, they assured me that everything was ok and “this is normal for a young wine.” Nonsense. The age of the wine has nothing to do with it, a young wine may not have a rich bouquet, but it will have the taste of the wine inherent in this variety and will be quiet.

It is important to clearly state your claims about the wine in your application. “It’s not tasty” - naturally, it won’t do. Use your feelings and simple terminology. In my application, I wrote - “signs of secondary fermentation, a vinegary taste, when the bottle is shaken, the wine plays and foams.” It is secondary fermentation that causes bubbles in large quantities. Next, the wine is sent for examination (the first time it is carried out by the store itself, that is, it is not independent). Most likely, no further action will be required.
Three weeks passed from the moment the application was submitted until the money was returned; I honestly admit that I did not expect an answer from them. Moreover, at first I didn’t even want to waste time and nerves returning the bottle, but then I felt offended. And I also feel sorry for the money, it doesn’t fall from the sky for me. In the end, I am very pleased with myself and the fact that I was able to defend my innocence. Therefore, if you bought a low-quality or damaged product, make the store treat you with respect.

I once returned spoiled meat to a store of another well-known (and very expensive) chain. At first they also tried to assure me that everything was ok, but in the end they cut it from another piece, and everything really became ok. So fight for your rights!!

p.s. On scientific article This post is not intended!