To Drink or not to Drink?

[Peterock]

The conversation came up at work with one of the women in the office that I'm making my own wine. So she goes on to tell me that her husband makes wine as well and goes ahead and brings me a bottle to try. I never even look at the bottle and just take it with many thanks. When I get home first thing I noticed is that it looks like a Champange cork in the bottle (has a mushroom head) OK no biggie as I set it on its side in my rack for a few days and it hasn't leaked. However when I held the bottle up to the light to look at its color I noticed quite a bit of sediment in the bottle. It looks like it has been there for some time. It's not stuck to bottom or side of bottle. It's not sludge like. If anything it's in a pencil eraser shaving/dust like matter that flows through out the bottle that always quickly makes it way to the bottom. I'm not sure what to do. Do I tell them I think the bottle went bad? Is it OK to drink?
I can take a few pics and post them but I'm pretty sure it was just bottled to early.
Thoughts?
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
n

 

[Runningwolf]

I would not say anything depending on your relationship. Did they give any to anyone else? Ask them how there's was. Some day during conversation you could ask her or her husband about their procedures and whether they filter or not and aging process. Let them know what you do to prevent sediment without bringing up their bottle unless if they offer. I'm sure they know there's kaka in the bottles.
Hell I just found out I have crystals dropping in my ice wine from last year. Thats a bummer!

 

[frohe]

However when I held the bottle up to the light to look at its color I noticed quite a bit of sediment in the bottle. It looks like it has been there for some time. Thoughts?

Sounds like he didn't do a good job of filtering his wine before bottling it. He might have used the wrong size cork and some broke off when he bottled it. I'd open it and filter it to get the gunk out of it. Then I'd taste-test it and go from there. If it tastes ok, you could go ahead and drink it and return the bottle. If not, bottle it til you're ready to drink it.

Just my opinion.

 

[sly22guy]

You can stand it upright in the fridge for a couple of days, it should all settle then you could rack it off into another bottle.

 

[Peterock]

I thought about racking it out and sampling. I'm pretty sure they aged it for over a year. Does the sediment ruin the wine over that long of period. I guess what I'm trying to saying is will I get sick from it if it tastes ok but ends up being bad? example (wild yeast,bacteria,ETC) Also I must correct myself as it was a normal cork, just was either not pushed in all the way or pushed out from fermentation C02 gases. How about adding sulfite to it?

 

[jiml]

I thought about racking it out and sampling. I'm pretty sure they aged it for over a year. Does the sediment ruin the wine over that long of period. I guess what I'm trying to saying is will I get sick from it if it tastes ok but ends up being bad? example (wild yeast,bacteria,ETC) Also I must correct myself as it was a normal cork, just was either not pushed in all the way or pushed out from fermentation C02 gases. How about adding sulfite to it?

Sediment happens even in commercial wines. About a year ago, I drank a 1983 bottle of merlot. I forget what winery. It had quite a bit of sediment over the years of cellaring and that is what a decanter is for. It was well past its prime but was ok nonetheless.

I have seen those mushroom corks. I assume it was something like:
http://www.eckraus.com/CL512.html

I say pop it open and give it a taste. If it tastes fine then it should be ok to drink. As long as it was fermented and the alcohol is greater than 10% then really the only thing that can happen is spoilage and you will know by taste.

 

[abefroman]

Sediment does not equal or imply bad.

 

[Catfish]

Bust that baby open and drink it! Nothing wrong with sediment. Some people don't filter, rack, clear, anything. They just rack it into bottles when they are ready. I've had some stuff with lots of sediment in it that was awesome. Just gives it more texture.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

Could it be that they make this batch up in a champagne/sparkling style? If they added a dose of sugar before sealing, they would have gotten additional ferment and carbonation. This last ferment would create some sediment. When I make sparkling wines, I riddle and remove the sediment, but it's some extra work.

 

[Wade E]

The sediment you are referring to if you are talking about the pics in the test area is wine diamonds and now reading this post has assured me of just this. This means he used good quality juice. That sediment will not hurt you and is by no means anything out of the ordinary and can be found in commercial bottles of wine, usually not the cheap ones either! You will encounter this when you start making wine from high end kits or good quality juice and the only to eliminate this somewhat unsightly dilemma is to subject your wine to very cold temps for 2-3 weeks and then rack off this stuff before bottling. Id drink this wine if I were you!!!!!!!!!! If you are talking about the pics in the test area it looks like a normal cork to me.