The Auswine Forum

I opened a bottle of '99 Petaluma Croser on the weekend. First the cork was locked down so tight that the top broke and I had to use a corkscrew to extract it.

Once open and poured it was completely devoid of any bubbles and tasted like vinegar - no fruit at all.

I got it about 18 months ago as a gift and although my cellaring conditions aren't ideal they aren't that bad (stored in a wine box in a garage that is built into the earth under an apartment block).

I'm getting better at picking faults, but this has never happened in my experience before. Any idea what this fault could have been? And is it worth my while contacting Petaluma for a replacement?

This is a problem of closure failure. Basically air has been allowed past the cork, in both directions at some stage.

Air out(Actually CO2) = flat wine instead of sparkler

Air in = oxidation = vinegar.

Just following up on this.

I contacted the winery who were very pleasant and a replacement bottle is in the post, on the way. It's current vintage but thats just fine with me.

Nice to see good service like this.

Incidentally, the back up bottle I had was a 2001 Petaluma Riesling which was drinking very nicely. No Kero and still plenty of acid and fruit suggesting that it can go for a little longer in the cellar.