Wine fault
Ropiness
A rare bacterial spoilage giving wine an oily, viscous, slightly slimy texture.
What you notice
Appearance
- Often accompanied by haze — also seen in Haze and cloudiness
Texture
- The wine pours thickly and feels oily or slippery
What it is
Rare in modern commercial wine, and unmistakable when it occurs: the wine visibly pours differently.
Historically a recognised problem in low-sulfur cellars, which is one of the practical reasons sulfur dioxide became standard.
What causes it
- Lactic acid bacteria producing polysaccharides, generally where sulfur dioxide levels are very low.
Can I fix it?
No — nothing will fix it
No. A bacterial population has produced polysaccharides throughout the bottle.
What you can do
- Nothing. Return it.
Is it safe to drink?
Not a safety problem
Unpleasant, not harmful. You can drink it; you may not want to.
Yes, though it is genuinely unpleasant. The lactic acid bacteria responsible are the same family used deliberately in cheese and yoghurt, and produce nothing harmful.
Ropiness is harmless, but a bottle that is both viscous and smells of rot, or has visible growth on the surface, has gone beyond a wine fault into spoilage. Pour that away.
Can I take it back?
Yes. It is a clear spoilage fault and unmistakable once seen, so returning it should be straightforward.
Sources
Sources consulted
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