What was the worst wine you ever made?

[NorCal]

My first; From Welches. The recipe said to add so much sugar, but I figured if that was good, then more is better. Ended up tasting like a cheap mixed drink.

 

[Boatboy24]

My first; From Welches. The recipe said to add so much sugar, but I figured if that was good, then more is better. Ended up tasting like a cheap mixed drink.

Did you sneak into @JohnT 's house to get that pic?

 

[bkisel]

Mine was an all juice (23L) kit from MM. Believe, if memory serves me correctly, it was a Pinot Noir

 

[Brian55]

Coffee Port. Blah.

 

[sour_grapes]

If I were a bad man, a vindictive man, or a man that likes to "stir the pot" I would add that it still tasted better than Welch's. but I am not going to do that..

Holy apophasis, Batman!

 

[Rodnboro]

Holy apophasis, Batman!

Well I learned a new word today. I have a coworker that does this constantly. Next time I'll say: Brian, don't be so obviously apophasis!

 

[Cxwgfamily]

all,

My worst wine was a Satsuma wine. It was my first batch. Followed the directions closely but did something wrong. Fermentation got stuck. I kept the must for a year and added another batch to it. Fermentation went well but the results were terrible. It tastes like you are drinking an almonded tree that has died. Runner up, fig wine. It has only been in the cellar for 6 months but it is not showing any promise. I still have my fingers crossed. but not it is terrible.

cxwgfamily

 

[sour_grapes]

Well I learned a new word today. I have a coworker that does this constantly. Next time I'll say: Brian, don't be so obviously apophasis!

Or, you could say "Brian, I am not going to point out how annoying your use of apophasis is. I won't even bring up your constant use of paralipsis and how much it irks me."

 

[CheerfulHeart]

My first WE Coastal Red. It was the first kit I tried to make. It had so much potential and I was so sad when I had to dump it It smelled so bad!

 

[FTC Wines]

Mine was Watermelon Wine. After a year finally dumped it all.

 

[Rodnboro]

Or, you could say "Brian, I am not going to point out how annoying your use of apophasis is. I won't even bring up your constant use of paralipsis and how much it irks me."

New day, new word. Maybe you should start a "Word of the Day" thread.

 

[grapeman]

The only wine ever dumped here because of just plain smelling and tasting nasty was a watermelon wine. Kept that sucker for a couple years hoping it would turn around, but it never did.

 

[ceeaton]

I really haven't had a dump-able wine yet, not at least in my opinion. The closest to a "bad" wine I've had, in my wife's opinion, is one of two Pinto Grigio juice buckets I purchases last Spring. Guess I was having issues with my TA testing procedures and added a bit too much Tartaric Acid. I think the one I had already bottled tastes fine, but my wife thinks it is a little too zingy. The other went through some added chemicals (Potassium Bicarbonate) and then cold stabilized for several months. Now it needs racked off of the pound or so of crystals in the bottle of the carboy. TA was 8.7 g/L before K-bicarb/cold stabilizing, but I've seen Hybrid wines much higher than that. Oh well, makes a great cooking wine.

 

[Ambugaton]

Now I am still very inexperienced... but I did try a pumpkin wine... the setup was great (pitched the yeast the night Trump won the election, was going to label it "Trumpkin") ... turns out the wine took the joke too far. A bit unconventional, unpredictable, not exactly what you pictured it tasting like...

Other than the welches in a milk jug attempt I made at some point... (complete with the balloon with holes poked in it as an airlock) the pumpkin was the worst.

 

[jswordy]

Interesting replies. My my grandpa was an old-world wine maker, so with him in mind my first "wine" was made with Hi-C and bread yeast when I was about 10 years old. It never got drinkable because it was sort of a science experiment so I just let it run until it was ruined. So that was the worst, I guess.

I had one failed batch of wine because I added five times the amount of k meta to the apple must after misreading the label. That was a dead zone!

I made strawberry one year and learned then that how much rain falls on those berries and the timing of when they are picked relative to the last rainfall can make all the difference. It was not unpleasant but very weak. I still have some of it and am planning one day to open them all up, blend with a fruit flavoring to make a berry wine, then clarify and rebottle.

Made some Norton that is just now getting good after 5 years, but that's pretty much normal for that grape, I understand. Very brawny, tannic and harsh in the earlier years. I think I have 3-4 bottles left. I had a friend who loved the stuff, so quite a few went to her.

Contrary to the comments in the thread, I've never had a bad batch of muscadine, nor have I had a bad batch of blueberry. I've medaled in 4 states with those two or a blend of the two. I still make Welch's, since it is so accessible for everyone and is often the hit of any party I bring it to. Just don't say it is Welch's and they lap it up.

 

[Kraffty]

I made a Honeysuckle wine in my second year when I was trying to make wine from anything and everything I could buy cheap or grow. It never stopped tasting like lawn mowings and weeds and I dumped it after a couple of years. That was about the time I narrowed my fermenting down to grapes and an occasional blackberry or strawberry batch.
Mike

 

[Arne]

I still make Welch's, since it is so accessible for everyone and is often the hit of any party I bring it to. Just don't say it is Welch's and they lap it up.[/QUOTE]

Don't tell Johnt. Might ruin his whole day, just at the mention of it. LOL, Arne.

 

[jswordy]

I still make Welch's, since it is so accessible for everyone and is often the hit of any party I bring it to. Just don't say it is Welch's and they lap it up.

Don't tell Johnt. Might ruin his whole day, just at the mention of it. LOL, Arne.

For the higher-class gatherings, I call it "Elixir of Rare Eastern Grape." Put a fancy label on the bottle. People jostle to try it then.

 

[Arne]

For the higher-class gatherings, I call it "Elixir of Rare Eastern Grape." Put a fancy label on the bottle. People jostle to try it then.

I luv it. Chugalug, chugalug. Arne.

 

[Jericurl]

Oh man, it's a toss up.

I did Cactus Flower wine one month for WOTM experiment. It turned into pink, fragrant, alcoholic snot.
It was just like the goo we used to play with back in the 80s.
Smelled lovely though.
Manthing had to dump it onto the compost bin because I couldn't even see it move without dry heaving.

Or the one I tried for one of the early contests here.
It was cucumber and something or other. It smelled like rancid vegetable matter, which...I'd rather smell a dead cow than rancid vegetables.
Even my garlic and onion wines didn't smell that bad.