Wine faults can change how a wine smells, tastes, and is judged. In this beginner-friendly course, you’ll learn how to identify common wine faults, understand what causes them, and build the sensory skills to recognize problems with more confidence.

You’ll examine the philosophy behind what counts as a fault in wine and explore how some characteristics may be seen differently across tasting traditions. The course covers the difference between a fault and a defect, along with classic issues such as oxidation, reduction, cork taint, microbial faults, sulfites, and acetic acid faults. You’ll also compare Old World and New World views on these characteristics and consider when a trait may add complexity rather than signal a flaw. This course builds on earlier tasting concepts while remaining accessible to beginners. Through guided activities, discussion prompts, and a graded knowledge check, you’ll practice spotting wine problems and create wine defect sniff standards to strengthen fault recognition in real tasting settings.