Wine faults (or defects) do happen now and then, but many times corked wine is a misdiagnosis. There’s also a good chance that if you drink a lot of wine, you have run into a fault, flaw, or defect. We are here to show you the TOP 5 wine faults you may experience, how to detect them, and we also show you have to avoid some of the ones that you may have induced.

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Corked Wine – This defect comes when the cork reacts with chlorine (a common cleaning agent) in a chemical reaction that produces a strong, foul odor that permeates the wine. Like all the defects on our list, how prevalent the defect is in the wine can vary from not noticeable to extremely unpleasant. Corked wine leaves a musty, wet newspaper, and/or moldy basement smell/taste in the wine. Sniff the cork to determine if this is the correct defect/fault you’re experiencing because the nasty smell will be concentrated there. Only about 3% of wine globally suffers from this defect, so if you have something “off” in your wine, it may be one of the other 4.

Watch the whole video to learn about Oxidation, Over The Hill, Cooked, and Reduction. We’ll share with you the signs, characteristics, and what you can do to minimize your chance (Proper Wine Storage Techniques) of experiencing these.

Remember, crystals and sediment in wine aren’t a wine defect. If you’re experiencing this in your wine, we give you tips on how to remove them in our Wine Decanter post. It’ll also help you if your wine suffers from the reduction defect.

Have you ever experienced a wine fault/defect? Tell us about it in the comments.