Generally, when you open a bottle of wine, and you do not consume the drink in time, it could go bad. The rule is, however, not black and white. There are exceptions to wine consumption.

Avid wine drinkers are sometimes able to tell on sight what a bad bottle of wine looks like. But here are tips that can help you, avid wine drinker or not, determine whether the bottle belongs in a trash can or beside a plate of a delicious sizzling meal.

Cork Taint

This is probably the most visible sign that your wine is no longer consumable. Cork taint simply means your wine smells like the cork, and a faulty cork typically causes this. A cork tainted wine smells like a wet dog would, and when it is severe, the smell can be overpowering, leaving you no choice but to part with the contents of the bottle.

Oxidized wines

This also often occurs as a result of the wine being exposed to air. It’s primarily caused by bad bottle corks and can make your wine smell like rotten eggs. Inspect your bottles properly, and if you notice that the wine stain has spread all around and through the cork, you may have a bad wine on your hands.

Bad tasting

We all know what an excellent wine is supposed to taste like. In cases where you cannot smell it before you taste it, if you feel a wine tastes bad, then it probably is. Wine bottles are better stored away from sunlight since exposure to the sun makes the wine taste anything but fresh.

Not all bad wines are totally doomed. Depending on the taste, you may utilize it in creating a fantastic meal like coq au vin or use it to heat up spices to give your food an even tastier edge.