I’m a snob-free sommelier – here’s how to check your wine for flaws

A sommelier detailed how to properly inspect your wine when a waiter gives you a sample, and detailed how to identify any “flaws” in the drink before committing to buying a bottle or full glass.

California-based Warner is a 30-year-old “snob-free” wine educator who regularly shares tips and tricks about her favorite beverage with her more than 66,000 TikTok followers.

Warner recently revealed how to properly examine your wine when a waiter is pouring you a small batch.

She explained that the restaurant allows you to “check for errors” if you’re given a tiny sample.

Warner from California is a 30-year-old “snob-free” wine educator who has explained at length how to properly taste wine when a waiter hands you a sample

She frequently shares tips and tricks about her favorite drink with her 66,000+ TikTok followers

Warner recently showed how to properly examine your wine when a waiter is pouring a small amount for you, and suggested that you should look for flaws

Warner explained she would help her viewers “order wine with confidence” before revealing what to look for.

“So when the waiter or sommelier comes along and pours you that tiny sample of wine, they actually allow you to look for flaws, not to taste the wine and see if you like it or not,” she explained.

Warner revealed that the first and “most common” mistake is something known as “corked wine.”

She explained that this wine has something inside called “TCA” that oozes through a cork.

“This can result in a smell of moldy cardboard, wet newspaper, or some kind of dog. Basically all the fruit characteristics are gone, it’s just not a good smell,” she added.

Warner said this was mainly due to heat damage. She explained that she had experienced this before and the wine she ordered smelled like a “jam tiger” and “fortified wine”.

She noticed that when she asked to see the cork, she saw that the wine had seeped all the way up the cork.

“This told me the wine had heat damage. Basically, when the wine gets too hot, the pressure in the bottle increases so much that it starts to push the wine out of the top into the cork and eventually seep out of the cork,” explained the snob-free sommelier.

She added that a heat-damaged wine “won’t kill you” but “won’t taste good at all.”

Warner then dived into the next thing to look out for as you take that first sip of your drink.

Warner revealed that the first and “most common” mistake is something known as “corked wine.”

“This can result in a smell of moldy cardboard, wet newspaper, or some kind of dog. Basically all the fruit characteristics are gone, it’s just not a good smell,” she added

The second thing to watch out for is “too much sulfur”.

“If you find too much sulfur in your wine, you will smell something like burnt rubber, rotten eggs and garlic. It means it may have been in a reducing environment so there wasn’t much oxygen,” Warner said.

She added that you can tell this because it tastes like vinegar.

Warner ended her video with a disclaimer for your next night.

“Most of the time imperfections in wine are not common, usually restaurants take care of their wine storage, but if there are any problems tell your waiter or sommelier, they will also smell and identify the problem and most likely give you a new bottle,” explained she.

Viewers flocked to the comments section and praised the wine educator for her help.

Viewers flocked to the comments section and praised the wine educator for her help

“I needed that lol,” one person commented.

‘Thank you very much! Glad to know what to do at this moment,” one person wrote.

One person added: “Super helpful. Thank you very much!’

‘The more you know! Thanks,” commented another user.