Spoiled Wine: How Can I tell?

When a cork is compromised, the wine will prematurely age and then deteriorate due to increased exposure to oxygen. I've had this happen with a few bottles over the years. The easiest clue that something is wrong is the smell of Sherry, indficating the wine is madeirized and not drinkable. If it oxidized and not yet noticeably madeirized, you'd probably find it flat tasting and thin with some brown color to it.

Thanks Board-O.
I've never smelled or drank sherry, however, there seemed to be something "not quite right" with this rioja, a sort of sour finish to it, a quality I've not come across in any other red wine I've had. I decided to discard it.

Unless the wine smells moldy or like wet cardboard you may have some vinegar. "Sour" is vinegar or on its way.

Don't throw away!

Pour into a wide mouth container and leave open to the air, covered with cheese cloth or clean cotton cloth. Let the vinegar develop. If you are lucky you will get some gooey, gunkey "slime" that is "mother of vinegar" from bacteria in the air.

Mother of vinegar: http://www.gangofpour.com/diversions/vinegar/glob11.jpg

Taste as you go along. When the MOV sinks to the bottom, usually after a couple of months, the vinegar is ready.

Filter out mother of vinegar with coffee filters. Salvage this to make more vinegar from wines that are not that great or tasting wines. Just keep adding wines for an endless supply of home-made vinegar and MOV—all of which you can give to friends.

You can pasteurize the vinegar for proper storage. Boil to 140º not to exceed 160º. Cool and store in containers out of direct sunlight.

The vinegar will be cloudy but better than store bought.

Use on your salads.

Enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by Bacchantina:
The vinegar will be cloudy but better than store bought.

Sounds like a gigantic pain in the butt. It won't be better than the vinegar I buy and I'll be a lot happier buying mine than wasting all that time for some cloudy questionable stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:

quote:

Originally posted by Bacchantina:
The vinegar will be cloudy but better than store bought.

Sounds like a gigantic pain in the butt. It won't be better than the vinegar I buy and I'll be a lot happier buying mine than wasting all that time for some cloudy questionable stuff.

Why?

It's not a "pain in the butt" at all nor is it "questionable." It is the ancient way of making vinegar. How do you think vinegar has been made for millennia?

I've made my own (cloudy) vinegar for years and it's great. Friends love a gift of same.

If you prefer to pour the "bad wine" down the sink instead of making vinegar—be my guest! Americans are into waste.

quote:

Originally posted by Bacchantina:
Americans are into waste.

No. We just get rid of our garbage rather than eat it.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:

quote:

Originally posted by Bacchantina:
Americans are into waste.

No. We just get rid of our garbage rather than eat it.

No, you just throw away perfectly good wine to make vinegar with and then purchase expensive "imported" vinegars to feel superior.

We make our own vinegar, compost our "garbage" and have more money to purchase more good wines.

It is an American trait to create new stuff, while it is a European trait to preserve old stuff. (there are counterexamples, for sure)
For example, we tear down buildings and build a new one. In Europe, they gut the inside, keep the facade, and remodel.
What this has to do with wine or vinegar I don't know.

quote:

Originally posted by Bacchantina:
We make our own vinegar, compost our "garbage" and have more money to purchase more good wines.

Aha! So that's the secret? I'll get right on it.

PH

Green olive and sourness sounds more to me like a flawed wine than one that has gone bad. It's hard to tell just from another person's description, but I think most people would be able to recognize a wine that has started to become vinegary, and it doesn't sound like it's corked. A stained cork might indicate a cooked/overheated wine, but the descriptors don't match that either. Hard to tell with any accuracy, without actually tasting it.