i did a blind tasting last night and one of the wines smelled so much like a fino sherry but golden brown in colour. it had that cooked fruit, almond nose to it but lacked that alcohol punch. upon tasting, it didn't taste like a fortified wine because it didn't taste like 15% alc. it was sweet though .. very odd. i couldn't place it.

turned out to be a barbaresco .. an improperly stored one. can anybody explain that to me? does putting a wine near a heat source cause the flavours to become cooked?

Yes. It's also the reason why people shouldn't ship wine via FedEx/UPS/etc in the summer when it's 80-100F outside.

The sherry nose also leads me to believe there's a cork problem as that's an undesirable oxidized note for a Barbaresco.

i could pick out a sherry easily cuz it's distinct and it's not my favorite fortified beverage.

it was definitely oxidized. i did not see the condition of the bottle or cork unfortunately. it was in a class setting.

so would any red wine (regardless of grape variety) taste the same with long term exposure to heat? this was a first for me. i've opened a bottle that was corked but not one that was overexposed to heat.

I'd guess your Barbaresco was more likely to have an issue with oxidation than being overheated. You're more likely to get stewed fruit than sherry in a cooked wine.

PH