I think I had a "bad" bottle wine

First of all, let me preface this by stating that I am far from a wine afficianado.

A few weeks ago my wife and I had dinner at the Vines Grill in Orlando / Lake Buena Vista area FL. By the way, the place was great...probably top 10 dining experiences of my life...but more about that later. We had a bottle of wine that was delicious. It was slightly sweet buttery and had a wonderful oak taste. I recalled it being Mer Soleil. We liked it so much, I called the place after the fact to confirm that it was a 2006 mer soleil chardonay from california.

So, I go to a local wine shop and puchase a bottle today. Chilled it in the fridge, open and pour a few glasses. This wine tasted nothing like I recall. Actually it tasted bad...no butter, no oak, just a biting alcohol flavor. I couldn't even finish my glass!

I ask, is it possible that this bottle had "gone bad?" It was so different from what I recalled and it tasted terrible. Could this have been stored incorrectly or could something went wrong.

Thanks. DD

It's definitely possible for a bottle wine to go bad. However normally when a bottle goes bad taste in more like vinegar and stronger. I've never really had a bottle that started tasting like alcohol like you described. By any chance do you still have the cork from the bottle? If it wasn't sealed tightly as a good chance the wine had gone bad. If it's discolored all the way up and looks wet (may even have some with wood on the top) it definitely was bad. If you've got a good bit left I'd take it back where you bought it tomorrow, since you only had it a day they couldn't blame you for spoilage.

Have a point of reference here are the winemakers tasting notes for that wine:

Soft gold color. Richly perfumed nose, with light notes of honeysuckle, truffle and
buttery oak. Full, layered flavors of tropical fruit are balanced by a bright acidity
of sweet citrus, and linger though the long, creamy finish.

Hope this helps!

[Robin Garr]

Derrick, a lot of things can go wrong with a bottle of wine, unfortunately.

What you're describing sounds like maybe the wine had been "cooked" by exposure to damagine heat at some point in its life, an accident that tends to show its effects after a few months by causing the wine to lose a lot of its fruit. (Lesson here, if you leave a bottle of wine in a hot car, drink it within a few weeks after it cools off - don't put it in wine rack or cellar.)

Another common flaw is "cork taint," wine spoiled by a faulty natural cork. This usually shows itself as a musty, mushroomy, wet-basement stench.

A wine that's simply too old (and possibly also exposed to heat) will most often smell of cheap Sherry.

With all respect to Mark, wine turning to vinegar happened more often in ancient times than nowadays. Modern sanitary wine making techniques generally eliminate the bacteria that can turn wine to vinegar, although it can rarely happen.

Sounds to me, though - and this is reinforced by the Florida locale of this event - that the wine was stored in a warm place and kept there too long.

First of all, let me preface this by stating that I am far from a wine afficianado.

A few weeks ago my wife and I had dinner at the Vines Grill in Orlando / Lake Buena Vista area FL. By the way, the place was great...probably top 10 dining experiences of my life...but more about that later. We had a bottle of wine that was delicious. It was slightly sweet buttery and had a wonderful oak taste. I recalled it being Mer Soleil. We liked it so much, I called the place after the fact to confirm that it was a 2006 mer soleil chardonay from california.

So, I go to a local wine shop and puchase a bottle today. Chilled it in the fridge, open and pour a few glasses. This wine tasted nothing like I recall. Actually it tasted bad...no butter, no oak, just a biting alcohol flavor. I couldn't even finish my glass!

I ask, is it possible that this bottle had "gone bad?" It was so different from what I recalled and it tasted terrible. Could this have been stored incorrectly or could something went wrong.

Thanks. DD

Thanks for the info guys. It does help.

OK, I think Robin might be correct, that the wine was "cooked." I even took special caution to CARRY THE BOTTLE INTO WORK, as I purchased it at lunch-time, rather than leave in my hot car!

The wine is definitely stronger and has lost a lot of the fruit taste that I recall.

It was neither musty or "damp" smelling.

One other point, the cook while not dark or rotting did seem very dry and "crumbly."

To correct Robin, the Florida heat did not impact this bottle. The original bottle bought and enjoyed in FL tasted fine. It was the bottle that I bought locally, yesterday, that was potentially bad.

DD

I had my first "corked" bottle of wine last weekend at Volare. Upon tasting, it smelled and tasted, well exactly like cork! The manager took a quick smell and agreed. It can happen to any bottle. Thank goodness they believed me because it would have been painful to drink it.

Gotta love Volare half price bottles of wine seven days a week! (at the bar)

One other point, the cook while not dark or rotting did seem very dry and "crumbly."

It sounds like in addition to possibly being "cooked" this bottle may have also been stored incorrectly. Wine bottles should always be stored laying down to keep the cork moist. If the bottle is stored upright the core will dry out and lose its sealing ability.

Many wine companies are now using synthetic corks for many reasons, this being one of them. Additionally high quality natural cork is becoming harder and harder to find. Some of the new synthetics seen be working very well and some wineries are even looking at screw on caps!

I certainly hope you took the bottle back to where you purchased it and got a refund or a replacement bottle!

I certainly hope you took the bottle back to where you purchased it and got a refund or a replacement bottle!

I hope so too.
Any respectable wine shop should be more than happy to exchange/refund your purchase.
So don't be afraid to ask.

Some of the new synthetics seen be working very well and some wineries are even looking at screw on caps!

When it comes to the effectiveness of the seal, nothing can beat the screw on caps. While I must admit some of the romance is lost, I'd rather suffer through that while knowing that my wine is well-preserved than deal with cork rot. You can actually find quite a few very good bottles of wine (especially from Germany and New Zealand) that utilize screw caps, which is a big change from a decade or two ago.

[Robin Garr]

When it comes to the effectiveness of the seal, nothing can beat the screw on caps. While I must admit some of the romance is lost, I'd rather suffer through that while knowing that my wine is well-preserved than deal with cork rot. You can actually find quite a few very good bottles of wine (especially from Germany and New Zealand) that utilize screw caps, which is a big change from a decade or two ago.

Correctamundo. Screw caps are probably the best storage mechanism yet. Be very careful of the synthetic (plastic) plugs, which don't impart cork taint but are not proving out in practice for keeping wine sound more than a couple of years. Their curve has peaked and is headed down, I think, but screw caps are gaining market share. Speaking particularly of the "Stelvin" type screw cap with the long sleeve that looks very much like a traditional wine-bottle capsule. The short, light screwcaps like you find on cheap liquor bottles don't work well for wine.

Thank you all for your insight.

I have already contacted the store, and they said they would be happy to replace the bottle. I plan on returning it tomorrow.

It was purchased at the party outlet on Shelbyville Rd. near Dorsey...they were super-cool about me returning it.

DD

Another Orlando restaurant, The Wave (in Disney's Contemporary Resort) serves wine only from screw-cap bottles. Disney is able to buy in enough volume so that even wineries that normally use corks are willing to make capped bottle wine for them.

Something else aside from everything else people have pointed out. What was the year of the vintage of the Chardonnay that you bought locally. I have seen a few whites lose their flavor profile after 3-4 years of bottle aging. If it were an older vintage (for a chardonnay, I would say 2005 would be the start of a bad turn) that might have been the issue as well as getting cooked.

Had this happen to me recently with a bottle of Bourbon...but I stayed with it and before you know it, it was tasting pretty darn good. Maybe you needed a little more ice for your wine ????