Does Wine Go Bad in Storage? Check Yours Now | Vinfolio

Does wine go bad? Yes, and you can usually tell right away. Spoiled wine has that distinctive wet newspaper or acetone smell that collectors have come to dread.

But, did you know you can spot the telltale signs of a spoiled wine before you even open the bottle? Knowing how to identify common red flags is a great way to avoid buying spoiled bottles at auction. It can also warn you of potential storage issues so you can correct any problems before they impact the other bottles in your collection. With professional storage options like Vinfolio, our high standards and expertise can keep your wine safe; every bottle that comes into the warehouse gets inspected by our specially trained staff.

Here’s how to identify a bad wine before or after you’ve opened the bottle. With more than 800,000 inspected bottles in the warehouse, we’ve gotten good at knowing what to look for.

Two Ways To Spot a Spoiled Wine Before You Buy

You don’t always have to open a bottle to tell whether it’s gone bad in storage. Some of the signs are obvious to the naked eye. If you’re buying a new wine at auction, follow these two steps to ensure the wine is in good condition.

Step 1: Look at the Cork’s Position 

If the cork is bulging from the top of the bottle slightly, it’s a sign that the wine might have suffered from heat damage, meaning its flavors won’t be as complex as they should be. It can also be a sign of a poorly-sealed cork, which causes the wine to oxidize prematurely.

The cork should be flush to the bottle lip and well-sealed all around.

Step 2: Measure the Ullage 

The ullage is the space between the wine and the base of the cork when the bottle is sitting upright. In a young wine, the liquid will appear to almost touch the cork, and generally, the higher the ullage, the better condition the wine will be in when you open the bottle. In wines that are more than 15 years old, the ullage can start lower, at the top of the bottle’s shoulder, but if the liquid dips below the upper shoulder, it’s generally a sign of premature oxidation.

If needed, ask for detailed photos of the cork and ullage from the seller. Or, you can buy wine from a trusted seller that carefully inspects every bottle on the marketplace.

Signs Your Wine Has Gone Bad

Sometimes, you need to open a bottle to confirm whether it’s gone bad. However, you don’t have to take a sip just yet—there are other ways to identify spoilage. This can also help you narrow down the cause, so you can prevent it from happening again.

Here’s how to check your wine for signs of spoilage before you drink it.

1. Check the Base of the Cork 

Look at the bottom of the cork when you remove it from the bottle. If it’s a relatively young wine, like 2018 Harlan Estate, and the cork is crumbly or has soaked up a significant amount of liquid, it could be a sign of spoilage. However, keep in mind that most older wine vintages naturally have crumbly corks, so don’t be too worried if you see this. The wine inside may still be perfect.

2. Look at the Color

The color should closely match other wines of that variety, region, and age. Usually, brown, orange, or tawny hues are a sign of spoilage. However, this is a normal color in aged wines. As a general rule, if the wine is no more than a few years old, it shouldn’t appear tawny or brown at all (unless it’s Port), but if the wine is a few decades old, this color is a good sign.

3. Smell the Wine 

Wines have a wide range of aromas, but the ones you should be on the lookout for include mold, wet newspaper, wet dog, or vinegar; these are signs of a “corked” wine or a wine that has reached its natural expiration date.

Another bad sign is a cooked fruit smell in a very young wine. This aroma typically only develops as a wine ages, so if you’re identifying it in a wine that’s only a year or two old, it is a sign that the wine has been exposed to too much oxygen far too quickly.

4. Taste the Wine 

If all looks good up to this point, take a small sip. A wine that’s bland or tastes of vinegar could be oxidized or corked. Another important sign is a dry wine that tastes sweet; this can be a symptom of heat exposure.

If you go through these steps and discover your wine has gone bad, don’t panic. Nearly every collector encounters spoiled bottles once in a while. The most important thing is to figure out why the wine spoiled and take steps to prevent it from happening to your other wines.

Why Does Wine Go Bad?

The first thing you should know about wine spoilage is that it very rarely causes illness. In the vast majority of cases, a spoiled wine will taste unpleasant, but it isn’t likely to make you sick unless it’s been exposed to harmful bacteria.

That said, wine does go bad in the sense that it loses most of its flavor. This can be a serious problem for collectors, especially when you want to uncork an ultra-special wine, like 2003 Château Cos d’Estournel, that you’ve been waiting years to taste.

There are many reasons why a wine doesn’t smell or taste as it should, including:

• Cork Taint: A wine is said to be “corked” when it comes into contact with the chemical 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (or TCA), which can be present in natural cork material. Corked wines smell and taste of mold, newspaper, wet dog, or musty old books. A wine that’s corked can sometimes taste astringent, too. It’s almost impossible to prevent or find cork taint before it affects the wine, but thankfully this rarely affects high-quality wines.
• Oxidation: Slow exposure to oxygen over time creates new flavor and aroma compounds in a wine. This is why fine wines get better with age. However, too much air exposure (e.g., a leaky cork) leads to premature oxidation. When this happens, red wines turn brown, and white wines turn orange. Oxidized wines often taste bland.
• Bad Storage Conditions: Poor humidity control or temperatures that are too high or low can severely impair a wine’s ability to age gracefully, causing it to taste bland or unbalanced.
• Age: If a wine is significantly past its ideal drinking window, it will start to oxidize too much and lose its vigor.

So, wine does go bad, but for a variety of reasons. This is why it’s important to root out any potential problems as soon as you catch them.

How To Prevent Spoilage

Does wine go bad at random, or is there something you can do to prevent it? Thankfully, you can take a number of steps to keep your wine from spoiling.

The first and most important step is to store your wine properly. Heat, cold, humidity fluctuations, light, and vibration are the top causes of wine spoilage. These are also factors that you can easily control when you invest in professional storage. Expert-run storage warehouses are the best place to keep your wine long-term as each of these factors is carefully controlled, and within stricter parameters than the average home cellar.

Another tip is to keep a close watch on wines from the same producer and vintage. If one bottle in a case is spoiled, that doesn’t mean the entire case is ruined. However, it may mean those wines are more prone to spoilage, so you should take extra care to store them securely.

Finally, if you invest in white wines, like white Burgundy or Bordeaux, consider committing to professional storage from the start. These wines are so delicate and sensitive to oxidation that they need to be handled with great care from the moment they leave the winery. This goes for any of the finest or rarest wines in the world.

Ultimately, if you see signs that wine has gone bad in storage, there’s little you can do other than throw out the wine and protect your remaining bottles from the same fate. If you store your wine correctly and buy from a trusted retailer that carefully inspects bottles before selling them, you’ll have many more chances to enjoy spectacular bottles in the future.

Still wondering “does wine go bad?” Whether you are starting your high-end wine collection or adding to an established portfolio, Vinfolio is your partner in buying, selling, and professional storage. Contact us today to get access to the world’s finest wine.