That slight vinegar smell

[Sunsanvil]

We've been drinking kit wine for over 10 years now and have never had a bad bottle. We opened a Zinfandel on the weekend, almost 2 years old, and the cork to my admittedly lousy nose had a vinegar note. The wine didn't taste "bad" but we cracked open a second bottle: same thing. We then opened a 3 year old Chianti just to compare and it was perfect.

We've been drinking bottles from the same batch for the past year or so but this is the first time we've run into something like this.

Bad batch of corks which eventually leak enough air in maybe?

 

[NorCal]

Vinegar producing microbes need oxygen to do their thing. I would say bad corks or over exposure, prior to bottling.

 

[Johnd]

We've been drinking kit wine for over 10 years now and have never had a bad bottle. We opened a Zinfandel on the weekend, almost 2 years old, and the cork to my admittedly lousy nose had a vinegar note. The wine didn't taste "bad" but we cracked open a second bottle: same thing. We then opened a 3 year old Chianti just to compare and it was perfect.

We've been drinking bottles from the same batch for the past year or so but this is the first time we've run into something like this.

Bad batch of corks which eventually leak enough air in maybe?

Suppose if you used poor quality, # 8 corks, 1-1/2" long that you could have oxygen exposure, and that could lead to a vinegary smell / taste, though oxidation would be more likely. The other possibility is TCA tainted corks leading to your wine being "corked". Some folks are super sensitive to cork taint, I am one of them. Anything out of the ordinary in the way this particular kit was made / bulk aged, exposed to the air? Perhaps if you can describe the type, size and quality of the corks you used, along with how you stored, treated and installed the corks, we can help narrow down the possibilities..........

 

[Sunsanvil]

Good questions... corks we're supplied by the u-vin which brewed the kit for us it so I'd only be able to measure one (which I will do tonight). Installed with a pneumatic corking machine 1.8 years ago. Stored on their side in a basement (along with about 120 other bottles ranging from just bottled to 4 years old). I DID notice that the cork on the two suspect bottle came out uncharacteristically easy, without the pronounced "pop" I am used to. Only other note I can make is that the first dozen or so from this kit, consumed over the past year or so, have been fine.