What does spoiled red wine smell like

Red wine is a common type of alcohol. Many people think that red wine generally does not deteriorate. In fact, if the red wine is not stored properly, or if the red wine is not drunk within a short time after opening, it will cause the red wine to deteriorate. Once it deteriorates, the taste will change greatly. Such red wine cannot be drunk and may cause adverse effects on health. Let's take a look at what the red wine tastes like when it deteriorates.

Metallic and mousey taste.

Rotten eggs and rubbery smell. Smell of sulfur dioxide. If you smell something like wet paper or wet animal fur in the wine, then the wine has gone bad due to TCA (trichloranisole) contamination.

Sulfur dioxide smell: The smell that occurs when you strike a match on the matchbox and are ready to light a fire is the smell of sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide is added to most wines because it acts as a preservative for wine.

Hydrogen sulfide smell: If the wine smells like rotten eggs, it is caused by hydrogen sulfide, which means that the wine has undergone a reduction reaction.

Oxidation: If you smell a pungent smell in the wine, similar to the smell of rotten apples, then the wine is over-oxidized.

Stewy taste: Wine can easily develop a stewy taste if it is exposed to high temperatures. Stew notes appear in wine as cooked fruit and caramel flavors.

Bret yeast flavor: Bret yeast, the name sounds good, but you can't taste the "wine aroma". Conversely, wines severely affected by Brettanomyces will smell like stinky socks, wet dog, and horse odor. Less severely affected wines will lack fruit and have notes of alcohol, gypsum and livestock pens.

The reasons for the deterioration of red wine are as follows:

1. Oxidation

Oxidation is the most common defect of red wine. Red wine will also oxidize and deteriorate like metal. The most common causes are excessive oxygen and improper storage. Oxidized red wine will lose its original characteristics in color and flavor. Its color changes from bright red to brick red or brown red, lacks luster, and its taste changes from fresh to dry and bitter. Because the high tannins in red wine can slow down the rate of oxidation, white wine is more susceptible to oxidation.

2. Microbial contamination

Red wine is the product of microbial activity, and the winemaking process is the process of controlling these microbial activities. However, red wine may be contaminated due to microbial activity during the brewing process. Certain yeasts may become the black sheep of the red wine brewing process, and some foreign microorganisms may also pollute the brewing environment. Red wine contaminated by microorganisms often has unpleasant smells, such as herbal, animal and other smells.

3. Cork contamination

Cork taint refers to a common defect in red wine caused by contaminated barrels or corks. This process may occur in oak barrels or on the red wine assembly line, so this defect often affects the entire batch of red wine. Red wine contaminated by corks often has what we often call "cork smell", that is, it smells damp, like wet newspaper, or moldy, which makes people very uncomfortable.

4. Sulfide pollution

Generally speaking, in order to prevent red wine from being contaminated by other substances, producers usually add a certain amount of sulfur dioxide to it. However, when too much sulfur dioxide is added, the red wine will be damaged, causing sulfide contamination. Red wine contaminated with sulfide often has a pungent odor that can be described as smelling like rotten eggs, burning rubber, skunk, or urine. But decanting can reduce these pungent odors.