What happens if you drink spoiled red wine

Red wine is a drink with relatively high nutritional value. It also contains a large amount of vitamins and has many benefits to the human body. Drinking red wine in moderation can also help beautify the skin, and it is a drink loved by many women. Red wine also has a shelf life, especially opened red wine, which can easily deteriorate if not stored properly. So, what happens if you drink spoiled red wine?

Spoiled wine will have a distinct sour smell, and you can clearly smell the sour smell if you get close to the bottle and smell it. Moreover, spoiled wine or wine that has lost its wine flavor cannot be consumed. If the deterioration is caused by bacterial infection, it is likely to cause gastrointestinal discomfort if consumed. Mild cases can cause diarrhea, while severe cases can damage the stomach and intestines and cause other problems. Therefore, if you drink spoiled wine and feel unwell, you must go to the hospital for examination immediately.

The wine has expired and gone bad. It is not drinkable, but it seems a pity to throw it away. Then we can use it in other places. Wine can be used to clean gasoline stains. If some clothes are accidentally stained, you can use expired white wine to clear them. When frying fish, the fish will stick to the pan. This problem can be solved by coating the pan with some white wine. There are many other little uses like this. In short, you should never drink it if it’s expired.

Three tips to tell if your wine has gone bad

1. Look

First, observe the wine cork. If it becomes dry or has unknown substances, then there is a high probability that there is a problem. Let’s look at the color of the wine. Normal wine should have a bright color, but the color of different wines can be different and quite diverse.

White wine can usually range from nearly colorless to golden yellow, while red wine can range from bright purple to crimson or even brick red, depending on the grape variety, brewing method and cellaring time. However, any wine that is dull or even turbid indicates that there is something wrong with the wine, and you should be extra careful in the following steps of smelling and tasting.

However, there are two exceptions that do not fall into the category of wine spoilage. One is that after the bottle is opened, there are a small amount of transparent crystals like glass slag on the cork or in the wine. This is because the temperature of the wine is too low during transportation or storage, and the tartrate in the wine forms crystals. This is a normal phenomenon and does not mean the wine has spoiled. However, most modern winemaking methods today cold-treat the wine before bottling to remove excess tartaric acid and avoid causing adverse sensory stimulation to consumers, so this phenomenon is rarely encountered.

The second exception is the crimson precipitation in red wine. This is because the pigments in the red wine combine with phenolic substances such as tannins to form large molecules. This phenomenon does not affect the quality of the wine, but it can make the taste bitter and not smooth. Therefore, you need to use a decanter to remove the precipitation or stand the bottle upright for a while to allow the precipitation to fall to the bottom of the bottle. Neither of the above two situations affects the color and brightness of the wine, so the wine is still bright and colorful, which is completely different from spoiled wine.

2. Smell

Cork

After opening the cork, you can clearly smell the rotten odor of the cork when you get close to the bottle, which basically means that the wine has gone bad. The cork smell is caused by factors such as improper cork disinfection or cork deterioration in a humid environment.

Oxidation smell

This is also an unpleasant, old-clothes-like smell caused by the wine losing its gas and becoming moldy and spoiled. It tastes like horse urine and is basically a spoiled wine. However, it is normal for fortified wines such as Sherry, Port and Portugal's Madeira to have oxidative flavors.

Sulfur dioxide smell

Smells like a solid fuel stove. This smell is mostly caused by excessive sulfur treatment during the brewing process - winemakers need to use sulfur to sterilize, and sweet and semi-sweet wines also need to use higher sulfur to terminate fermentation because of their high sugar content. This smell is often found in cheap sweet wines, which make the throat dry and uncomfortable when drinking.

Rotten eggs and rubber smell

This smell, mixed with the smell of hydrogen sulfide, often appears in red wines under conditions of high ambient temperatures. If left untreated, it will develop into a distinct sewage-like odor.

This smell can be dispelled by adding a little sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide is still very common as a preservative. It is also used to clean oak barrels and bottles. Many young wines have a little this smell, but it is harmless and usually dissipates quickly after pouring the glass.

3. Taste

If you don't find anything unusual just by observation, you can drink a little to judge. Spoiled wine generally has a damp, rancid smell. In addition, you should carefully distinguish whether you feel abnormal tingling and bitterness on your tongue, inside of your cheeks, upper and lower palates, and throat.

It should also be noted that sometimes the wine has a diffuse or blocked aroma, a loose structure, and is lifeless. It may not have deteriorated, but rather a "bottle fainting" phenomenon. In this case, let the wine sit for a while and it will return to normal. Therefore, if we suspect that a bottle of wine is defective and we cannot judge it ourselves, we can decant it for about 30 minutes. If the wine still cannot return to normal after decanting, then there is an 80% chance that there is something wrong with the wine.