Chardonnay problem

[Rob P.]

I don't drink alcohol. I cook with it, but I don't drink it so I'm kinda ignorant when it comes to the nuances. I have several different wines, champagne, whiskey and brandy all stocked and I've never bought a single bottle since 1982. I don't drink, nor am I a collector, but people still give me booze - go figure.

I have a bottle of Chardonnay I was gifted several years ago. The wine is a pretty mid-stream brand bottled in 1996. Not expensive or rare just a midpriced wine. It's been kept in the dark at room temp since I got it and it's pretty dusty complete with cobwebs.

At the bottom of the bottle is some black looking sludge and there are floating bits suspended in the wine. Hard to see what the true color of the gunk really is but it's definitely dark and solid. The sludge is crusted onto the bottom of the bottle but is still soft in consistency and can be easily disturbed when moving the bottle. At which point the sludge starts to mix with the wine and the flecks rise. This bottle could not be poured without filtering. None of my other wines have had this sediment and I've heard about "turning" and decanting some wines but I'm not interested in that at all.

What to do with the bottle? Toss? Ask vintner/bottler to replace? Sell on Fleabay? What?

[chef_oz]

Air might had been let though the cork. Depends on how it was stored
Pour it in to a craft. Let it set for about 20mins. Sip it... If you like it then use it!

Lets go Rivers!!!

[Culprit]

Originally Posted by chef_oz

Air might had been let though the cork. Depends on how it was stored
Pour it in to a craft. Let it set for about 20mins. Sip it... If you like it then use it!

Lets go Rivers!!!

Only thing I would add is, if I decided it was worthy of consumption, to run it through a paper coffee filter before I put it back on the shelf in a fresh, clean bottle. If you only cook with wine, remember that the rule should be "if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it". There is no such thing as a "good" cooking wine.
On the other hand, if it's a lesser quality wine in the first place and you don't drink wine, I think I might just dump it out.

[Rob P.]

Well, I looked deeper at the problem and I decided to dump the bottle.

The whole inside of the bottle was coated with a dark "varnish" and you could see streaks in the coating (like a very dirty window after a light mist caused the droplets to run).

I couldn't even disturb the bottle to pick it up without causing the sludge to rise so I dumped it. It was free so I lost nothing.

My next question is how often does this sort of thing happen?

[Culprit]

Wine needs to be stored on its side with the neck of the bottle lower than the bottom of the bottle. This helps keep the cork from drying out. If the cork becomes dry, air can enter the bottle and spoil the wine. Wine stores that shelve their wines in a upright position will often use the older wines on the shelf as sale items. I've never understood why they insist on shelving wine in that fashion. I'm guessing but I suspect your bottle was a victim of the dry cork phenomenon. It's also a good idea to rotate the bottle(s) 180 degrees periodically (I usually do that once a month) while they're in the wine rack. But I don't have to do that often because if a bottle of wine is still in my wine rack six weeks after purchase I figure I'm not drinking enough of it.

[Ted Hudgins]

It kind of sounds like you had the beginnings of a vinegar mother there due probably to the cork letting air and bacteria in. Had it gone on a few more months you may have seen a rather pretty helix like formation in the bottle itself. The particles on the bottom are usually white, harmless tartaric acid and they do not change the flavor appreciably. Champagne sometimes has a little of the dead yeast cells if the disgorgement doesn't get all of 'em out, but I've never seen black flecks.

You did the right thing by dumping it, although I would have loved to know what it smelled like to see if it had indeed gone to the dark side of the wine world. I guarantee that wine was not fit for its intended purpose.

[Rob P.]

Ted, When I dumped it the smell was of a light wine with no vinegar odor. The flecks were green to greenish black. The sludge was choc brown. Interestingly enough as soon as I removed the foil over the cork I knew something was "bad". There was a "crust" of dried brown dust over half the cork top. The cork was so dry it crumbled. I couldn't pull it and had to push it through. There was so much varnish on the inside of the bottle you couldn't tell it was empty as the varnish made it look like it was still full of vino. Made the sink smell nice for a while though.

Anyway, I learned from this. I guess I need to either make a wine cellar or give my bottles away.

[castironchef]

Originally Posted by Rob P.

Ted, When I dumped it the smell was of a light wine with no vinegar odor. The flecks were green to greenish black. The sludge was choc brown. Interestingly enough as soon as I removed the foil over the cork I knew something was "bad". There was a "crust" of dried brown dust over half the cork top. The cork was so dry it crumbled. I couldn't pull it and had to push it through. There was so much varnish on the inside of the bottle you couldn't tell it was empty as the varnish made it look like it was still full of vino. Made the sink smell nice for a while though.

Anyway, I learned from this. I guess I need to either make a wine cellar or give my bottles away.

That's confirmation that the problem was caused by improper (read "upright") storage of the bottle. Keep the cork wet and these problems can be avoided.