The other night when we had guests over for a wine tasting, one of the wines did not taste “right.” Several people noticed that both the aroma and taste for a Sangiovese wine was off. Earlier this year we purchased a wine fault kit by Jean Lenoir, so we took it out and we were quickly able to identify the fault. Although the wine was still drinkable, many of us decided to go with the other wines.

The wine fault kit offers 12 tiny bottles with 12 different scents and a booklet that describes the fault and what can be the cause of the fault. We determined that the fault was number four, glue. Several conditions can result in this fault and these are described in the booklet. This particular fault can be caused by a chemical reaction (acetic acid reacting with ethyl alcohol), when wine is in contact with air for too long or lack of hygiene during winemaking. This may all be more information than the typical wine drinker wants to know but the kit is valuable in helping people know the difference between a wine with a fault and a wine that they just don’t like.

During the tasting our guests were encouraged to dump any wine they did not like. They were reluctant to do so. With the wine that was faulty, it didn’t take long for our children to demonstrate dumping of wine in a rather attractive large Aalto vase that serves at times as an ice bucket or wine dump bucket. We followed with our wines and then our guests followed suit. Everyone enjoyed the tasting and even a faulty wine added to the experience.

If you want to explore more about wine faults consider purchasing a wine fault kit.