“My wine smells funny!” Wine Faults Part I

Picture this. You go out to a restaurant for dinner. It’s a special occasion, so you’re willing to invest in something that looks reasonably good on the wine list (factoring in, of course, the usual 2 to 3 times mark-up). The wine arrives and the waiter (or sommelier if you are somewhere really flash) pours a small sample into your glass.

You take a sip. It tastes funny. Not ha-ha funny, because you’ve just paid quite a lot for this bottle of wine and this is no joke. But “not quite right” funny.

Your options

What do you do? You have a couple of options:
(1) You struggle through the whole bottle and say nothing.
(2) You politely explain to the waiter/sommelier that the wine is faulty.
(3) You hurl the wine in the waiter/sommelier’s face and storm out of the restaurant.

Well, option (3) is plain rude. And, unless you’re Paris Hilton, hopefully it is out of character, too.

Most people go with option (1). They think to themselves “maybe this is how it is supposed to taste” and struggle on.

Occasionally someone tries option (2). But often it is hard to be particular. If you can’t explain why you think the wine is “off”, the waiter/sommelier might be less inclined to believe you. And no-one likes to be publicly embarrased.

So when should you shut up and when you should say something?

There is no perfect answer, and wine can be deceptive. In the sections below, we’ve identified some of the common “off” smells you might find. We explain whether they should be there, and, if not, whether the wine is just generally crap or it is your particular bottle.

The “off” flavours: part I

sherry-flavour, raisins or “brown/bruised apple” The wine may be oxidised. If it is a white wine, it might look brownish; if it is a red wine it might look brownish-red. You can even do an experiment yourself. Open a bottle of wine and have a few glasses… then open another bottle of wine (no, just kidding). Put a cork in the wine and try another glass the following night, and then again on the third night. Taste different? That’s the process of oxidation. In very simple terms, as its name suggests, this arises due to the reaction of the wine to oxygen.

A little oxidation is not a bad thing – in fact, many wines show their best after a little exposure to the air. For some fortified wines, (like port, madeira) oxidation in an important part of the process of winemaking that gives these wines their distinctive flavour. After all, a sherry flavour in, er,…sherry, is not a bad thing.

But you don’t want your table wine tasting like sherry. Unintended oxidation can occur in the winemaking process itself or subsequently (for example, a leaky cork), so it can be hard to tell at sight whether it is just your bottle that is faulty, or something that has affected many bottles from the winery. The bad news is that there is little you can do to reverse oxidation.

Vinegar taint, boot polish, nail varnish or even glue If you’re smelling this then the wine has increased levels of Volatile Acidity, or ‘VA’.  You’ve probably heard of VA before, typically when some wine buff remarks “get a whiff of the VA on that one”.  All wines contain a certain amount of acidity. This is a good thing (otherwise we may as well drink those alcoholic sodas that have made drinking spirits cool to the under 20’s – think Melon Ruski...shudder).  However, VA means more than just a high level of acidity. Mostly VA is a sign of acetic acid (ie vinegar), but there can also be smaller amounts of other acids – most of which I won’t list (not having my year 10 chemistry text book handy), however it is worth mentioning ethyl acetate (which has the helpfully recognisable aroma of nail varnish).

VA arises as either a by-product of fermentation, or due to the wine spoiling (think bacteria enjoying a nice feast on the yeasts).  Which acids appear will depend on the type of bacteria involved.  If the excess acidity is acetic acid, then the wine will give off a vinegar aroma.  If it’s ethyl acetate, then you’ll notice nail varnish or glue (up to you whether you want to put the stuff in your mouth if the smell is particularly strong).

The thing is, VA is present in all wines. The problem starts only if it’s detectable, and even then some would argue that it’s not always a major problem.  The challenge for the winemaker is to have enough acidity so that the wine tastes like wine, and not Ribena, but to keep the VA to an undetectable level.  Sometimes VA can give wine a lift and having a good level of VA, but still at a point where the VA is not quite directly noticeable, can add that certain something to the overall flavour.  In short, if you like a mild hint of vinegar in your drink, then go for your life.  Fewer people seem to enjoy nail polish for some reason...