Wine Faults: How to Tell If Your Bottle Has Gone Bad

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Don’t drink bad wine. And don’t throw out good wine. Here’s how to tell the difference.

You’ve opened a bottle. Something smells… off.

Is it bad? Should you send it back? Pour it down the drain? Or give it a few minutes to breathe?

Most wine drinkers can’t answer these questions confidently. And that means they either drink faulty wine without knowing it, or toss perfectly good bottles that just needed time.

Wine Faults on Sommo — AI Wine Scanner, WSET Prep & Wine Journal App

Wine Faults: How to Tell If Your Bottle Has Gone Bad