Inspection Guidelines

Vinfolio follows rigorous inspection guidelines on all wine, including wine that is sold through the Vinfolio Marketplace and through Vinfolio consignment auctions. We strongly recommend both buyers and sellers of wine read these guidelines before placing orders or accepting bids. Only wines that pass these guidelines will be sold to buyers.

What sellers should expect
If you're selling wine via the Marketplace or Vinfolio's consignment auctions, your wine will be rejected if they fail a single one of these guidelines.  The “Pass/Fail” determination is inherently a subjective assessment applied in Vinfolio's sole judgment.  Therefore, if possible, especially for Marketplace transactions where penalty fees apply, use these guidelines to pre-inspect your wines and don't accept Marketplace bids or even offer them for sale through Vinfolio if they are close to failing any guideline.

What buyers should expect
The bulk of the wine sold through Vinfolio is from secondary market sources, including wines which may be 10, 20, or 30+ years old.  It is normal for bottles to reflect various differences from the day they left the winery.  These inspection guidelines set the threshold for what we define as acceptable differences that you may encounter with your purchases.

Overview of inspection guidelines
All wine sold through Vinfolio must pass all of the following guidelines for:

• Label condition
• Bottle fill level or ullage
• Cork condition
• Capsule condition
• Color

For wine made available for purchase in Vinfolio's online wine store, including wine from consignment auctions conducted as buyout auctions, all wine has been pre-inspected and approved against these guidelines.  For wine offered via the Marketplace, wine is inspected after the wine is sold and received in Vinfolio's warehouse.  Rejection of one or more bottles in a Marketplace transaction will cause the transaction to be rescinded.

In the case of consignment auctions, rejection of bottles will adjust the selling contract and Vinfolio may choose to adjust these guidelines with detailed information on provenance and storage conditions.

Label condition

1. Torn/missing labels
1. Reject if part or all of the vintage, producer, or vineyard is not legible or missing
2. Reject if nicks in label exceed ½ inch
2. Damp-stained labels
1. Accept if label is slightly discolored from humidity (to be expected for wines that are older than 15 years)
2. Reject if label is noticeably discolored or illegible (wine may not be bad but marketability is negatively affected)
3. Wine-stained labels
1. Accept if label is stained only with small drops from the breakage of other bottles in a case
2. Reject if stain is more extensive (for marketability reasons)
4. Scuffed labels
1. Accept unless heavily scuffed and illegible
5. Faded labels
1. Reject if noticeably faded and illegible
6. Writing on labels
1. Reject if labels have significant writing on labels (affects marketability)
7. Fake labels
1. Reject if bottle label is a facsimile/photocopy or otherwise judged not to be authentic

Bottle fill level or ullage

1. For wines more than 15 years old:
1. Bordeaux-shaped bottle: Accept only if fill level is Upper Shoulder (US) or better
2. Burgundy-shaped bottle: Accept only if fill is 5 cm (2 inches) from cork or less
2. For wines less than 15 years old:
1. Bordeaux-shaped bottle: Accept only if fill level is Base Neck (BN) or better
2. Burgundy-shaped bottle: Accept only if fill level is 3 cm (1 inch) from bottom of cork or capsule whatever is the lowest point

Note: Since Burgundy-shaped bottles have a sloped shoulder, it is not practical to describe fill levels (ullage) of these wines in the same manners as those in a standard or Bordeaux bottle (e.g., Base Neck, Top Shoulder, Mid Shoulder, etc.).  Therefore, the fill level should be reviewed in centimeters from the cork bottom.  Also, the condition and drinkability of a Burgundy is less affected by ullage than other wines and should be considered with the overall bottle and label condition as well as the wine color.

Cork condition

1. Protruding or "pushed"
1. Accept if the cork is raised less than 1mm, the capsule is not breached and there is no other sign of damage, as it is likely that it was caused by variations in corking machine settings or manual insertion.
2. Reject if cork has pushed through the capsule or is raised 1mm or more from the top of the bottle.  Occurs when wine has been exposed to extreme temperature (either too hot or perhaps frozen).
2. Sunken
1. Accept if depression is minor (less than 2mm) and likely caused by variations in corking machine settings or manual insertion.
2. Reject if depression is 2mm or more, which is likely a sign that the cork may be defective or "easing" and increases the chance that the wine is oxidized.
3. Signs of seepage
1. Reject

Note: Corks over 20 years old begin to lose their elasticity and levels can change between the time we inspect the bottle and shipment.  Old corks have also been known to fail during or after shipment. There is always a risk of cork failure with old wines and Vinfolio assumes no responsibility for this.

Capsule condition

1. Metal/lead capsules
1. Corroded (e.g., appears as white "dust")
1. Accept if minor (capsule does not have open gaps or holes from the corrosion) since some corrosion is normal due to a substance/chemical in the lead capsules that make them biodegradable
2. Reject if corrosion on top of the capsule is advanced to the point where there is a hole in the capsule, as there is an increased chance that the cork is bad
2. Missing or cut
1. Reject unless specific reason it is missing or cut is known and acceptable.  Note that Vinfolio may request the ability to cut the capsule to check the authenticity of the wine by verifying printing on the cork.  (We do not cut the capsule without the owner’s permission.)
3. Torn or ripped
1. Accept provided tears are minor (less than ½ inch) and do not reduce likely marketability of the bottle
2. Wax capsules
1. Chipped or partially missing
1. Accept as this is fairly common and does not indicate anything in particular about the wine condition
2. Reject if entire cork is exposed
2. Non-original
1. Reject for particularly expensive wines as it is often an indication of counterfeiting

Color

When a bottle of wine has been exposed to heat, the fruit "dies" and the color pigment of the wine changes.

1. White Wine
1. Dry (e.g. Burgundy)
1. For wines less than 15 years old:
• Accept if clear, lemon to light gold in color
• Reject if color is deep gold or amber 
2. For wines more than 15 years old:
• Accept if color is a shade of gold
• Reject if color is brownish
2. Sweet (e.g. Sauternes)
1. For sweet wines less than 15 years old:
• Accept if color is a shade of gold
2. For sweet wines more than 15 years old:
• Accept if color is a shade of amber, even mahogany as this is natural
• Reject if the shade is closer to black, as it has most likely been exposed to excessive heat
2. Red wine
1. For wines less than 15 years old:
1. Reject if the color shows any hint of brown as the wine is likely spoiled. Note that it is the shade of color that is in question, not the intensity of color, which will vary by variety and a paler shade of red is common for certain varietals and tends towards raspberry in color
2. For wines more than 15 years old:
1. Assess the color using a flashlight
2. Reject if more brown than red. Again, it is the shade that is in question, not the intensity of color since with aging pigment is absorbed into the sediment and “falls out” of the wine

Examples of wines that would not pass inspection