You are here:

WINE POSTS

A COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE FOR THE TRUE CONNOISSEUR

A discolored cork shows that this wine may have gone bad

How Do I Check for Signs That Wine Has Gone Bad in Storage?

The distinctive smells of a wine that has gone bad—often reminiscent of moldy wet newspaper and acetone—are the last things anyone wants to experience when they uncork a bottle of fine wine. However, you can sometimes spot the telltale signs that wine has gone bad in storage before you even open the bottle. Knowing how to spot common red flags is a great way to avoid buying spoiled bottles on the secondary market. It can also warn you of potential storage issues so you can correct any problems before they ruin the other bottles in your collection.

Read more

How to Protect Wine Provenance: A Step-by-Step Guide to Tracing Your Wine’s History

Collectors often assume that a wine’s provenance doesn’t matter once they’ve bought their bottles and stowed them away in their cellars. This might be true if they only plan on drinking the wine, but if they want to resell the bottle later, the wine’s provenance still has a long way to go. I’ve bought bottles…

Read more
tips for a successful wine auction purchase

Tips for a Successful Wine Auction Purchase: Look for the Red Flags Your Seller May Have Missed

Sometimes, sellers will put a bad wine case up for auction without realizing there’s anything wrong with it. Take premox for example; unless you open one of the bottles, it’s not immediately apparent when a case of wine has been impacted. A collector might naively invest in a vintage that’s notorious for premox problems, keep…

Read more
How to Avoid Buying Prematurely Oxidized Wines at Auction

How to Avoid Buying Prematurely Oxidized Wines at Auction

Premature oxidation (premox) catches even the most seasoned wine collectors by surprise, and it’s easy to accidentally invest in an oxidized case at auction. Collector Billy Grippo has an expansive collection containing several thousand bottles at a time, and even he’s fallen victim to premox wines. Grippo explains, “A lot of people put their wines…

Read more
identifying herb and floral flavors in wine

Tasting Boot Camp Week Two: Identifying Floral and Herb Flavors in Wine

Even seasoned collectors feel insecure about their palates once in awhile. For the longest time, my Achilles heel was herbal notes. I could easily pinpoint dark fruit, citrus, and lavender, but grass, thyme, and eucalyptus always seemed to evade me. It wasn’t because those flavors weren’t there–I’d read multiple tasting notes that all picked up…

Read more
2010 Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape

Hidden Gem of the Month: 2010 Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo Is Ready for a Popularity Boom

I often take for granted the fact that I am a relatively young collector. When I see that a wine will last 30 or more years in a cellar, I’m giddy with excitement; I know I’ll get to see that wine evolve completely and reach peak maturity. However, older collectors view these long-lived wines differently.…

Read more