Sometimes there are something’s you are better off not knowing.  If I told you that about one bottle in ten of the wine that you are drinking does not taste the way it is meant to taste, you would probably think I have been smoking dope, or I am one! Neither is true, (I hope.) Over the last six months I have carried out some lengthy research and it appears that up to one bottle of wine in every ten is either corked or has some form of technical fault, and that’s a horrifying statistic.

(If you want to see how I came up with the statistics follow this link …….)

Imagine this, walking into your favorite bottle shop, you see a bottle 98 Chateau ABC and think that should be pretty good as you really enjoy the 96 vintage of that wine. So you pay your money and ahead across the road to your favorite BYO restaurant.  The waiter pulls the cork and pours some into your "bistro style" glass. It difficult to appreciate the aroma from these glasses so you don't really try to have a good smell of the wine.  You take your first sip and it tastes pretty ordinary.  Not really bad, nothing you can really identify as being off, but not what is expected, certainly not worth the money, disappointing, pretty ordinary, a bit flat tasting, and nowhere near as good as the 96 vintage that you so loved.

Chances are this wine is mildly corked.  The wine doesn't have to smell musty, moldy or of wet hessian.  Although if the wine has these aromas it is a lot easier to identify and there is a very good chance it is corked.  Frequently the wine will just exhibit dull or muted aromas with a dull or muted taste, and these characteristics are dead a giveaway. If you are familiar with a particular wine and drink it regularly you are in an excellent position to pick a dud. If for some reason you think the wine doesn't taste right there is a very good chance the wine is not what it is meant to be.

You don’t need to be an expert to pick up corked or bad wine.  All you need is a little bit of confidence and practice. If you have had the wine previously and know what it is meant to taste like, picking an off bottle is easier. If you have never tried the wine before and don’t know exactly what to expect, it’s a lot more difficult to pick a mildly tainted bottle.