Please Forward This To Everyone

It is impossible to know if a wine is bad before opening the bottle.

If you remove the foil and there's a bit of mold on the cork, the wine is probably still fine.

If you remove the foil and the cork looks like it's leaked a bit, the wine is probably still fine.

If the cork falls apart as you insert the corkscrew and disintegrates upon removal, the wine is probably still fine (just pour the wine through a sieve to filter out the bits).

If you pull the cork out and the bottom of the cork is covered with red sediment or crystallized particles, the wine is probably still fine.

If the foil itself is soaked from seepage, the wine is probably still fine.

Basically, unless you're trying to decipher the condition of an old bottle of wine (because the cork can help give you an indication of how much oxygen has penetrated the wine), don't worry about the cork. Corks are misleading. Corks lie. Forget the cork. Worry about the wine.

If the wine tastes bad, then put the cork back in and bring it back to where you bought it.

If the cork explodes in your hand, but the wine still tastes delicious, then drink it. You're not going to get sick.

If you bring a "bad" bottle of wine back to the store where you bought it, then the wine needs to have been opened. You can't know if a bottle is "bad" unless you've opened it, smelled it, and/or tasted it.

No one at K&L will ever make fun of you for returning an opened bottle of wine you think is flawed (even if it isn't).

People might snicker at you if you bring back a "bad" bottle of wine that has never been opened.

It is impossible to know if a wine is bad before opening the bottle.

-David Driscoll