Is "Down the drain" the NEW HOBBY?

I am puzzled how often I can read here “I put it down the drain”!

May it be a totally TCA infested wine (which I understand), but also wines with “too much” alcohol content, overripe, pruney, port-like, premoxed, too much oak - past its prime, over the hill, not to my taste etc. etc. - all is going “down the drain” [scratch.gif]

Is this only a literally expression (and the wines actually kept for other purposes) - or do most people that actually always carry out?

I can think of a lot of ways to use a bottle/glass that I don´t want to drink out: for various purposes of cooking, drinking hot with sugar and spices (Glühwein in Germany), make vinegar out of it etc.

Even only slightly corked wine can be used for cooking, because TCA evaporates quickly with heating.
All really down the drain immediately?

It’s just wine. I want to enjoy it.

If i’m not enjoying it, and its open, it will go down the drain. Perhaps that sounds decadent, but why drink something that gives little pleasure. And that’s not to say that the wine is flawed, or even bad, just that it is not good, not enjoyable. I rarely cook, so have no other use for it other than down the gullet or drain.

If I dont like it and nobody else will drink it, it will go down the drain. I dont care how much $ it is or how “special” the bottle is.

What I have forgotten to add: “down the drain” seems to happen quite often immediately after initial disapointment, often without advanced opening, and well before watching the evolution of the wine for several hours hours, even several days (I know there are exceptions here who do that).
If I had get rid of many wines early on after tasting I would have missed some of the most impressive experiences … quite a few wines actually did not only recover after several hours/days, but blossomed into real beauties (as several of you will know).

Bingo!

I concur. If it’s not flawed, and it’s just not enjoyable, I will give it some time, including corking it up and sticking it in the fridge overnight to see if anything happens.

Even the most heavenly wine eventually goes down the drain.

Do you have any facts to back up the claim that most people on this board dump wine down the drain “immediately after initial disappointment”. My opinion is this is a made up problem.

Quite often and most people seems to be quite different things.

TCA goes down the drain here (unless it’s returnable), most other disappointments get used for cooking. Got served a TCA infected risotto once and have thus never tried to cook with it.

I don’t really cook, so if I kept every bottle of wine I didn’t enjoy around the apartment, either as vinegar or cooking wine, I’d run out if space in a few months.

As written above I didn´t write “most people” but “quite often” - I don´t think that´s ME making up a problem.
Moreover you just have to follow the threads here to read about actions like that (if often, sometimes or rarely I leave open to you)

I cook quite a lot, so most unwanted wine is set aside for that purpose. Still, much of the wine set aside for cooking still ends up down the drain if not used for awhile. Even cooking every day, I have only so much use for red wine, somewhat more for white. I will say though, that if a wine is pruny, oxidized, too oaky, or just an overripe mess, I’m more skeptical of cooking with it. Alcohol itself is less of a concern because it will cook off in most of what I use wine for, but the characteristics I mention aren’t necessarily something I want in a finished food product either, let alone in concentrated form.

[snort.gif] Nice one mate! [wink.gif]

Corked wines go down the drain (although I have cooked with them when desperate and they work perfectly well for that; the TCA seems to burn off, though I have no idea why that happens). Wines I really don’t like I cook with and I keep cooking wines for a very long time in the fridge and they still work. I also do drink wines for the educational experience sometimes, but rarely more than a glass.

I’m a bit guilty of this. I will endeavour to try and hold out on wines a little longer this year before giving up on them!

Very well stated, and whether it’s true on this board or not, I see it every day in tasting rooms for instance. Tasting wine is too often about the first impression and not about following the evolution of a wine - and far too many folks either don’t have or aren’t trained to have the patience required to follow a wine. The truth is that the majority of folks who casually drink wine simply do not care - they want immediate gratification and if they don’t like the first taste or smell, they are bound to toss it. I don’t feel that applies to the majority of folks on this board.

In thinking about this, think about reviewers who go through dozens of wines and make assessments based on ‘quick tastes’, or note on this board from large tastings where folks are in the same situation, and think how ‘valid’ these impressions may be instead of being able to sit with a wine longer. And remember that this not only applies to ‘bad’ wines but to ‘good’ ones as well - your initial reaction may change as that wine sits out longer, etc . . .

Cheers

If corked wine is boiled the TCA will be driven off. If however it is added unheated to a pan in which fat is present the TCA will bind to it and be unremovable.

Just last night we opened a 2018 dry Riesling. I’ve been trying different Riesling styles lately to see what I like, expand the palate etc. This was less than 3.0 g/l RS…super dry and teeth-shatteringly acidic. But the biggest problem was the overwhelming petroleum nose and taste. It overpowered any positive fruit flavors. I couldn’t finish my second glass with our dinner. Leaving in the frig for a day or two to see if it will diminish, but if that doesn’t go away it’s going down the drain. All part of trying out new styles. The petroleum stuff is not for me I guess. Bottle was less than $20, so not a huge loss. This might fit the description of the thread, but I’m not wasting calories on something I don’t enjoy.

You say “quite often” but follow with “there are exceptions here who do that” in regards to “watching the evolution of the wine for several hours hours, even several days“ and also say “but blossomed into real beauties (as several of you will know)”.

The implication here is clearly that there is a minority who know how to appreciate wine, the “exceptions” and “several of you” who are doing it right. It’s condescending.

There are a number of factors going into someone’s decision on what to do with a wine they don’t like. Several of these might be:

  1. Is the wine clearly flawed?
  2. If it’s flawed what do you do with it?
  3. If it’s not flawed what do you do with it?
  4. Is it a wine that may taste better with more time?
  5. How much does the wine cost?
  6. Do you cook with wine?
  7. Are there other people you know who might like the wine?

For me, if it’s clearly flawed I pour it down the drain. I don’t spend more time on it. We have plenty of gifted low priced wines that we can open or Coravin for cooking so no need to keep it.

If it’s a very cheap wine, maybe something someone brought over that got opened and it’s leftover and I don’t think anyone in the family will drink i will pour it out at the end of the night. I’ve done thus with a 19 Crimes Chardonnay, for instance.

If it is a supposedly decent quality wine that I don’t like I will give it more time or cork it to try later or to share with the Mrs or the “kids”, whose tastes are different from mine and often will like something I’m not thrilled with.

I just haven’t read many tasting notes where the taster said they tried a wine and didn’t like it so poured it down the drain. I have read many where they say they tried it and we’re not impressed on day one so tried again day 2 or 3.