Aeration opens a wine, but too much will result in oxidation and therefore spoilage. Similarly, if the wine has a cork that leeks in too much air, or if a wine goes through multiple temperature changes in the bottle over a long period, oxidation may also occur.
I find oxidation to be one of the the most common wine flaws you’ll encounter, and is the main reason that I generally don’t drink wine by the glass in restaurants, unless I know they are doing enough volume, and even have a solid wine preservation system in place. I hate having to send wine back based solely on it being open a little longer than it should, therefore in smaller restaurants you’ll most likely find me enjoying a decent micro-brew beer.
How to tell if your wine is affected: Affected wines will turn brown in color, which is easy to spot in whites, but sometimes not so much in reds, however don’t mistake a wine that has been aged for a wine that is oxidized. The taste of a truly oxidized wine will be completely flat, have zero fruit, or as though it’s had all the life sucked out of it.
Your course of action: If you’re absolutely 100% sure the wine is oxidized, send it back. As previously stated, you’ll most frequently run into this when ordering wine by the glass in a restaurant, and the wine has been open for 3+ days.
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Grape 100% Gewurztraminer Facts Before we get started let’s get the pronunciation on the grape out of the way: ‘ga-VERTZ-trah-MEE-ner’ It’s a tough one! Alexander Valley Vineyards decided a few years ago that the Gewurz was one of those wines perfectly suited to bottle under a screw cap. This due to the fact that the wine should ideally be consumed within a few years of its vintage date.
