Dallas Bartenders

Dallas Bartenders Provide a Wine Fault Glossary to Aid Wine Lovers in Identifying Faulted Wine.

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Detecting Wine Faults:

Dallas Bartenders

Corked: a "corked" wine is a product spoiled by a cork contaminated by Trichloranisole (TCA). TCA can be detected at concentrations of just a few parts per trillion. A "corked" wine will have a musty, dank, moldy smell like that of wet cardboard and an off taste.

Hydrogen Sulphide: this fault is detectable by the smell of rotten eggs.

Maderization: this term involves wines that have been allowed to get too warm; a wine with this fault will be somewhat brown in color and will have acquired a cooked, toffee-type flavor. Madeiras and "Vins doux naturels" are purposefully maderized but in other wines it is a fault.

Mustiness: not to be confused with corkiness, this fault may be contributed to storing wine in musty, old wooden barrels.

Sulphur Dioxide: sulphur dioxide smells like burnt matches. This is the most common chemical used in the production of wine in order to stabilize the wine, prevent oxidization and in the case of sweet wines to further fermentation. This fault is mainly found in young, cheap, white supermarket type wines.

Wine Faults- Dallas Bartenders

Over-Acidic: a term when the wine has been tainted during the winemaking process or has been opened too long and attacked by a bacteria called Acetobacter.

Overly-Alcoholic: wines generally have an alcohol range of 5-15%. Wine makers may employ chaptilization, the addtion of sugar, in order to boost alcohol levels. Overly-alcoholic will taste top heavy with a lack of rich ripe fruit taste and lack of a tannin balance.

Oxidation: oxidation occurs when too much oxygen has been absorbed by the wine; this can occur during the winemaking process or after bottling. Over oxidization will result in a dull wine lacking in fruit to a rancid or sherry-like flavor. Oxidation is, however, an important process in order to produce some ports and sherrys

Ullage: this term refers to the low level of wine in an unopened bottle; if this occurs it is most likely the cause of wine escaping through the cork and in exchange oxygen will replace the wine.

Detecting Wine Faults- Dallas Bartenders© '05-'07 Dallas Catering

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