Is there a sign of wine damaged by wine shipped during hot (80s) other than pushed up corks?
If the corks are not pushed up, has damage been avoided?
Sometimes but not always. Look for streaks on the corks or even leakage. Pushed up corks may be a tell. Sometimes though you can not tell and even drinking right away may not give a clue that the wine was partially compromised. It seems to get worse with age.
Hi Mark,
Depending on if the wines were clarified with bentonite or not, protein flakes can become unsoluable at high temperatures. This is quite different than the harmless potassium bitartrate crystals that precipiate in bottle and look like rock salt . Protein flakes look a little like the shit in a snow-globe and float at the same rate.
Cheers,
Bill
P.S.
When are going to start Ponder?
Hi Mark,
Usually with minor heat damage you don’t get pushed up corks like you do with frozen wine. The wine seems to push up along the edge of the cork and under the capsule without pushing up the cork. Look at the 2 little holes in the top of the capsules, sometimes with a small amount of leakage you can see a little red stain or signs of leakage that hasn’t leaked down under the bottom of the capsule.
I live in Southern California and it hit 109 in parts today. Needless to say I got a phantom delivery from UPS today meaning it was dropped on our porch without signature. My wife noticed it sitting there around 5 and brought it inside. We usually get deliveries around 3 -4 from UPS. I arrived around 6 and opened box. The bottles appeared okay at first glance and did not appear to be hot to the touch. The bottles were cradled in cardboard slots laying horizontal in box. No popping corks.
Under each capsule there is a little red stain on cardboard that I am not sure if it is wine that seeped or it is coming from the capsules.
Anybody have any experience with something like that?
I’d return it or get a refund. No excuses for shipping in this weather.
If there are signs of seepage or a pushed cork, the damage is obvious. Wine exposed to temps above 70 for periods of time simply ages faster, and the curve steepens quite a bit above 80. Therefore, wines exposed to warmer temps without external signs of damage may drink well initially, but they likely won’t have their original longevity. So, either return/refund or drink up!
cork pushup is usually with freezing temperatures not heat. open a bottle and try. with a young white if you can smell taste oxidized/oxidative notes, caramel/baked flavours as well as normal young wine descriptors its a problem. with big full tannic young reds, its less of an issue, but i suspect it will affect the way they will end up aging. probably they wil go on a fast track and evolve much quicker.
just check your incoming LOT18 order as it will be hot!
Tom I’ve noticed this before. I believe this comes from the capsules.
I’m just curious about how many wines are actually heat damaged. From shipping to individuals, to distributors having wine sitting in hot warehouses, to wine that languishes on hot retail shelves (or in the sunny window - I still recall seeing a dusty Les Pavots being proudly displayed in the blazing hot front window of an Atlanta retailer).
I not aware of any study out there, or really any way to tell other than a producer sampling their own wines as they probably know best EXACTLY what a wine should taste like, but I still think this is one of the top (unappreciated/underrated) issues in the industry.
I’ll bet that I’ve chalked up more than one producer/wine as a ‘wow that wine sucks’ and never buy it again, when in fact it’s just massively heat damaged…
Maybe I’m over estimating the impact though.
https://wineimport.discoursehosting.net/t/california-wine-transport-resolution-in-post-62/28233/1
Was your fullfillment company named California Wine Transport? Check the label for the sender.