Please help: 2 "smart" employees decided to wash some bottles of new, unopened, refrigerated bottles of wine that had mold on the outside of the bottles. 15 of the bottles became uncorked about 1/2" or less. When I became aware I was shocked that they did this. I never thought anyone would put them through the dishwasher... What happens to the wine now. Obviously I can't use them now. What about the bottles that are still intact?
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
I have answered many unusual questions about strange occurrences, but this is truly a unique incident. I gather you are a restaurateur. Your imaginative employees (looking on the bright side) somehow found a way to put full bottles of wine into the restaurant's dishwasher. Did they place the bottles standing up in a glass washing rack or lay them down? There are some low-temperature glass washers, but since the corks were pushed up I assume another type was used. Looking into the various washer types, I see some with incoming water temperatures of 120 to 140 F, high enough to do real damage to the wine. From your description, however, it seems the bottles were transferred directly from the refrigerator to the washer, so a lower (but still warm) water temperature could have pushed up the corks. This matters, because the wines may have been seriously affected if subjected to very high heat, but could be fine if the washer was just warm. Is this an expensive, old or rare white wine, or a current vintage still on the market (or a rosé)? If it's an irreplaceable vintage, open and evaluate one bottle with a few competent wine professionals. While you won't be able to sell bottles with corks pushing through the capsules, you might be able to serve the wine by the glass if it's in good condition. Moreover, I am also inferring there are some bottles with intact corks, beyond the 15 you mention. If the wine is still available, ask the wholesaler to provide a sample of the same vintage and conduct your own blind tasting. Have someone help by pouring wine into 3 glasses from numbered bottles: 2 of the dishwasher bottles and the new, unaffected bottle. Is there a clear verdict or not? This will help you decide if you can legitimately serve the wine by the glass - or make a white Sangria. I'll be curious to know the outcome after you've tasted these now famous dishwasher wines.
