Wine experts.. chime in. Just opened a bottle after 6 yrs of sitting.

[Zeze]

I bought an Argentinean white wine about 6-7 years ago. It's been sitting at room temperature ever since.

Well I opened it today. Much to the anticipation, it tastes... weird? Fiancee says it smells and tastes slightly like scotch.

It's very bland and tastes like water (very gentle), followed by a slight note of sourness in the end.

Did it go bad?

Wine is supposed to mature further even in the glass bottle yes?

 

[Dirigible]

Wine can and does go bad. Some wines benefit from aging. Most, not so much. Quite unlikely a white wine benefits from aging 6 years, and much more likely it went bad.

 

[Zeze]

Wine can and does go bad. Some wines benefit from aging. Most, not so much. Quite unlikely a white wine benefits from aging 6 years, and much more likely it went bad.

How does a spoiled wine taste?

 

[BoomerD]

Plus, depending on what kind of "cork" was used and how it was stored, it may have gotten air in it...and it can go bad from that.

We opened a 10 year old bottle of wine a couple of months ago...it was cloudy and sour. It got poured down the sink drain.

 

[fralexandr]

also try to keep your wines out of the sun
hence why wine cellars exist (lower temperature, low exposure to sunlight)

it would probably taste sourer, it can vary a bit though depending on conditions (microbes vs light caused degradation)

My prof said in food micro that most american wines are pre-"aged", since americans are typically too "lazy" to age their own alcohols . So aging any non import wine isn't optimal

 

[NikolaeVarius]

It went bad. White wine is supposed to be drunk within like 3 years. Not all wines benefit from aging, and even then kept in a cool place, not at room temp.

How does a spoiled wine taste?

Tastes acidic. Like Vinegar.

 

[KeithTalent]

It really depends on the wine and how you store it; I've not really had many whites aged that long that did not taste funny to some degree though six years seems excessively long for a white. Reds seem to do much better with aging.

KT

 

[OverVolt]

Spoiled wine has tannins collect at the bottom as a precipitate due to exposure to light (radicals) driving the reaction.

Wine doesn't really age in the bottle. When they talk about aged wine, its because its aged in wood barrels and as the temperature/humidity fluctuates it soaks into the barrel and ages, yadda yadda.

Its like saying the kraft parmasean cheese in your fridge is aged because its 5 years expired. No, they age parmasean cheese like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Parmigiano_reggiano_factory.jpg

Its on wood shelves that are cleaned every 7 days in a controlled environment, they are soaked in brine for 20 days, etc.

AKA not a plastic bottle in your fridge.

Same with wine.

 

[fralexandr]

Spoiled wine has tannins collect at the bottom as a precipitate due to exposure to light (radicals) driving the reaction.

Wine doesn't really age in the bottle. When they talk about aged wine, its because its aged in wood barrels and as the temperature/humidity fluctuates it soaks into the barrel and ages, yadda yadda.

Its like saying the kraft parmasean cheese in your fridge is aged because its 5 years expired. No, they age parmasean cheese like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Parmigiano_reggiano_factory.jpg

Its on wood shelves that are cleaned every 7 days in a controlled environment, they are soaked in brine for 20 days, etc.

AKA not a plastic bottle in your fridge.

Same with wine.

While that's true, there is supposed to be a step called "laying" particularly with french wines where you wait a few years (typically 5, with the bottle angled slightly downwards with a cork cap)

 

[tcsenter]

Wine needs to be stored long term no higher than ~ 60' F and out of direct sunlight, assuming it wasn't just the cork/seal that was insufficient. I opened a decent bottle of Mondavi Cabernet that had been sitting in someone's small wine rack on the kitchen counter as decoration for about six years, occasionally exposed to direct sunlight at certain times of the day. Nasty!

 

[OverVolt]

While that's true, there is supposed to be a step called "laying" particularly with french wines where you wait a few years (typically 5, with the bottle angled slightly downwards with a cork cap)

Ah I see.

I know some "wine connoisseurs" who drank an expired 25 year old wine bottle and kept talking about how great it was while I tried not to laugh.

I understand there is a wine culture but I'm HIGLY suspicious if it isn't just all in their heads. I mean a cork is pretty small its not going to change the flavor much if you have it stored angled down for 5 years, but whatever they say, heh.

I'd love to see it stand up to a blind taste test. Just telling someone its a french wine stored in a wine cellar will make them comment about how good it is, even if its terrible wine in reality.

I respect that there is a wine culture but I really just do not buy it. Saying XYZ wine has notes of lemon grass and earthy tones (AKA its expired and tastes like dirt) I just find humorous if you get enough "wine connoisseurs" together, which I've seen plenty of in person since one side of my family is like this.

The same ones who served expired orderves from BJ's that were stored in a freezer in the garage next to oil, and the orderves tasted like oil, but they couldn't taste it themselves. :awe:

It tasted so much like oil I went to go check where they were stored and sure enough the freezer was next to like their last oil change in a bucket and like 10 old gas containers (open) and it reeked of gasoline and oil. The same ones who served 5 year old gatorade and couldn't tell the difference, etc. But can somehow perceive "earthy tones" and "grassy flavor" from an obviously expired bottle of wine, hah.

 

[fralexandr]

yeah, i dunno what to make of it either

 

[Rakehellion]

I bought an Argentinean white wine about 6-7 years ago. It's been sitting at room temperature ever since.

Well I opened it today. Much to the anticipation, it tastes... weird? Fiancee says it smells and tastes slightly like scotch.

It's very bland and tastes like water (very gentle), followed by a slight note of sourness in the end.

Did it go bad?

Wine is supposed to mature further even in the glass bottle yes?

What's the expiration date?

 

[Mixolydian]

How does a spoiled wine taste?

Bad.

Ah I see.

I know some "wine connoisseurs" who drank an expired 25 year old wine bottle and kept talking about how great it was while I tried not to laugh.

I understand there is a wine culture but I'm HIGLY suspicious if it isn't just all in their heads. I mean a cork is pretty small its not going to change the flavor much if you have it stored angled down for 5 years, but whatever they say, heh.

I'd love to see it stand up to a blind taste test. Just telling someone its a french wine stored in a wine cellar will make them comment about how good it is, even if its terrible wine in reality.

I respect that there is a wine culture but I really just do not buy it. Saying XYZ wine has notes of lemon grass and earthy tones (AKA its expired and tastes like dirt) I just find humorous if you get enough "wine connoisseurs" together, which I've seen plenty of in person since one side of my family is like this.

The same ones who served expired orderves from BJ's that were stored in a freezer in the garage next to oil, and the orderves tasted like oil, but they couldn't taste it themselves. :awe:

It tasted so much like oil I went to go check where they were stored and sure enough the freezer was next to like their last oil change in a bucket and like 10 old gas containers (open) and it reeked of gasoline and oil. The same ones who served 5 year old gatorade and couldn't tell the difference, etc. But can somehow perceive "earthy tones" and "grassy flavor" from an obviously expired bottle of wine, hah.

Some people ARE full of it, but wine does have very complex flavors.

 

[silverpig]

The reason why really old wines are worth a lot isn't because they are old. It is because they are rare and are probably from a particular vineyards that had a particularly good year.

Most wines do age a bit in the bottle, but there is rarely a case where aging longer than 3 years in the bottle does anything noticeable.

 

[destrekor]

Ah I see.

I know some "wine connoisseurs" who drank an expired 25 year old wine bottle and kept talking about how great it was while I tried not to laugh.

I understand there is a wine culture but I'm HIGLY suspicious if it isn't just all in their heads. I mean a cork is pretty small its not going to change the flavor much if you have it stored angled down for 5 years, but whatever they say, heh.

I'd love to see it stand up to a blind taste test. Just telling someone its a french wine stored in a wine cellar will make them comment about how good it is, even if its terrible wine in reality.

I respect that there is a wine culture but I really just do not buy it. Saying XYZ wine has notes of lemon grass and earthy tones (AKA its expired and tastes like dirt) I just find humorous if you get enough "wine connoisseurs" together, which I've seen plenty of in person since one side of my family is like this.

The same ones who served expired orderves from BJ's that were stored in a freezer in the garage next to oil, and the orderves tasted like oil, but they couldn't taste it themselves. :awe:

It tasted so much like oil I went to go check where they were stored and sure enough the freezer was next to like their last oil change in a bucket and like 10 old gas containers (open) and it reeked of gasoline and oil. The same ones who served 5 year old gatorade and couldn't tell the difference, etc. But can somehow perceive "earthy tones" and "grassy flavor" from an obviously expired bottle of wine, hah.

I know there ARE wines that can easily be aged (stored properly) for a few decades and it is truly better in every way.


There are some beers that benefit from similar storage techniques, with five or tens years of aging, and they change. Beer can become very complex with aging - it won't be negative changes, but more flavors become apparent.

I imagine, just like with beer, the product has to be basically "designed" for aging. It has to have the right microbe and ingredient content for anything positive to come out of sitting in that bottle for a long time.
Just like most beers will NOT hold up with aging.

 

[Baked]

You don't store wine at room temperature... And since we know all about your life, that wine went through a lot of temperature changes. Yeah, you killed it. Unless you have a wine cellar in your basement, which you don't have, your best option would've been the fridge for a none wine collector.

 

[Lifted]

I mean a cork is pretty small its not going to change the flavor much if you have it stored angled down for 5 years, but whatever they say, heh.

The bottle is angled slightly downward to keep the cork moist, otherwise it will dry out, crack, and air will get in the bottle, quickly destroying the wine.

Cork is only used these days for the experience, to make the wine look classy. Fake corks are infinitely better at keeping air out of the bottle, with the added benefit that there's no chance of the bottle being corked.

source: family owns a vineyard and winery.

 

[ALIVE]

I bought an Argentinean white wine about 6-7 years ago. It's been sitting at room temperature ever since.

Well I opened it today. Much to the anticipation, it tastes... weird? Fiancee says it smells and tastes slightly like scotch.

It's very bland and tastes like water (very gentle), followed by a slight note of sourness in the end.

Did it go bad?

Wine is supposed to mature further even in the glass bottle yes?

lets see the wine is alive
but when you place it in a bottle and the cork is also sealed so no air can enter the bottle then you have hibernate the wine

as long the wine is in touch of air it is alive and acting
meaning it can either mature in the right conditions or go bad if the conditions are not good

thats why they put the wine in bottles in the first place
to secure the wine

 

[OverVolt]

source: family owns a vineyard and winery.

I won't hate, its a VERY good business these days. I've been to wine tastings etc. Just not my thing.

 

[deadlyapp]

As others have said - very few white wines are designed for aging. Some french style white wines (rhone style) can age up to that amount of time. Same goes for champagne, I have a bottle of 1998 champagne in my cellar that is still excellent (I've had two bottles over the last two years).

If it ages well, the taste will change. The fruit flavor will diminish and the wine will taste more "earthy." Not everyone likes the taste of an aged wine.

Also as others have said, storage conditions are critical. Keeping it at 58 degrees (or whatever temp people tell you) isn't critical, but keeping it at an even temperature is critical. If its somewhere where the temperature fluctuates often, then it won't last.

 

[OverVolt]

You mean like dirt. :awe:

As you guys can tell the one side of my family just LOVES me heh.

 

[phucheneh]

The good news is it sounds like the wine kept fermenting. Go get hammered.

Then maybe take some penicillin.

 

[deadlyapp]

You mean like dirt. :awe:

As you guys can tell the one side of my family just LOVES me heh.

That's the problem - some people taste dirt, some taste something "unique". I haven't had any wines old enough to be super significant, but I can definitely taste the difference for a few year difference in vintage.

 

[CycloWizard]

Spoiled wine has tannins collect at the bottom as a precipitate due to exposure to light (radicals) driving the reaction.

Wine doesn't really age in the bottle. When they talk about aged wine, its because its aged in wood barrels and as the temperature/humidity fluctuates it soaks into the barrel and ages, yadda yadda.

Its like saying the kraft parmasean cheese in your fridge is aged because its 5 years expired. No, they age parmasean cheese like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Parmigiano_reggiano_factory.jpg

Its on wood shelves that are cleaned every 7 days in a controlled environment, they are soaked in brine for 20 days, etc.

AKA not a plastic bottle in your fridge.

Same with wine.

That's not necessarily true. Most wines will undergo chemical changes over time while in the bottle. Common exceptions are port (usually changes very slowly with time and can improve with bottle aging) and Madeira (good forever and remains virtually unchanged over centuries in a bottle due to the processing performed prior to bottling). Barrel aging is a different animal altogether as it is used to react wine with the barrel material to alter the characteristics of the wine (usually by imparting oaky flavor). I have had some very good, very old (1850s) wines that had some precipitate but were perfectly good to drink. I've also had some very good, relatively recent wines that were terrible because of corking and other issues. It's complicated and, like any other complicated problem, the answer is usually: it depends.