Wine Storage Problems - Hoover HWCB 15 UKBM User Manual

Wine Storage Problems

Corking- a tiny percentage of bottled wine (about 1%) will suffer from this.
The cork reacts with the wine and gives it a musty, unpleasant taste. It is the
most common wine storage problem and is caused by harmless bacteria
growing on the cork. As unfortunate as this is, there is nothing to do but to
discard all of the wine in the affected bottle. This is not to be confused with
Oxidisation- when wine has been opened and left for longer than a day;
way to avoid this, it to either drink the wine on the same day it was opened
or to use a vacuum device specially designed for removing oxygen from
opened wine bottles. If you use such a device, the wine should still be
consumed shortly afterwards.
Ullage- this is loss of wine from the bottle by evaporation or leakage. Signs
of ullage include wine seeping around the cork, a protruding cork or a
stained label. It can happen if the bottle has been allowed to get too
warm. The wine may still be drinkable, if the leakage was recent; however,
you should be aware that if the wine cools down again, contraction
can cause more air to be sucked into the bottle and result in further
deterioration.
Slight effervescence in still wine- this isn't really a problem with the way
the wine has been stored, but as a result of incomplete malolactic
fermentation before the wine was bottled. A good way to get rid of the
effervescence is to let the wine breathe. Alternatively you can use a bottle
his is not normally a problem, however both red and white
wines can produce sediment after a number of months in a bottle. The
sediment consists of tartrate crystals and is totally harmless. If anything the
building of sediment can be considered a good sign because it means
A good way to get around sediment (if it is a problem) is to stand the
bottle upright, the day before opening, so that the sediment can settle to
the bottom of the bottle.
both young and old wines, but younger wines in particular. To decant,
pour the wine slowly and evenly into your decanter.