Jelly?

Has anyone ever had this issue? I was pouring a wine - not going to mention the producer, but it was a 2012 Merlot - and the wine seemed off from the start, but I decided that I wanted to pour half of it into another bottle and cork it for another day. I poured the full bottle into a half bottle, and it was as if a glob of something poured out. I then grabbed a metal strainer, and the result (quickly) was almost like I was pouring out jelly. The strainer wouldn’t let any liquid through. Thoughts?

Mucus plug. Should have baby bojo in like 12 hours

Sounds like a wicked case of pediococcus. This would be a rare instance where the specific bacterial spoilage results in a “ropey” character in the wine. Usually caused by excessive ripeness, low TA and high pH. Well, not caused by that but that environment engenders the growth. Here is some sort of tech-y stuff but not that hard to get the gist from.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/food-science/ropiness

Wine Jell-O shots

Hmmm. I have read old mentionings of ropiness in wine from documents from 18-19th Century British Navy stuff. I always wondered what that meant.

Now I know! Thanks!!

Gross. Wine spunk. Ewww…

Thanks Jim. Very interesting. Other than the visual issues, any idea what this does to the taste/flavor of a wine? That is, would there be any way to detect this problem through tasting rather than seeing the slime?

Wines that I have tasted with high enough levels of pediococcus in an active form can be fizzy-ish, dirty, bitter but the main characteristic to me any way is bruised apple.

Glad you know what this is, my only guess was a wad of egg whites.

Oh, I am not saying I know what it is. I’m guessing. For it to be pediococcus that would have to be one massive infection and one weird outcome but I could not conceive of something else that could do that in wine. I’m sure there are things though and someone with a better chem background or who has worked at places where they either study shit like this or, god forbid, accidentally made something akin to this would have a better insight than what I have offered up. I think pediococcus is a possibility but I don’t know for sure.

It looks like the Blob. Is it growing? Best to contact the government.

Maybe do some Pitocin shots to get the party started.

Save it for breakfast and make a PB&J

Happened to me before. I think that thread is on eBob though. But consensus was it was some kind of bacterial issue. Looked like a loogie.

This is why it’s good to have producers around

Thanks Jim for a likely explanation!

Yes. Definitely gross. And thanks Jim for the explanation and links.

Is this a bottle by bottle thing, or is this something that starts before bottlings, making it more likely that I will experience this in the remaining bottles I have?

That happens when we boil chicken heads and feet at excessively high heat, to make soup. It is called snot and toe cheese.

This just keeps getting better.

I’ve encountered something like this once, and yes a bit shocking / concerning, but no obvious issues with the taste of the wine, nor any unpleasant after effects. No idea what it was.