I've become a more proficient taster since I've starting the hobbies of
winemaking and homebrewing. Awhile back, I made a batch of Chilean
Merlot from a kit. I've since decided the wine had oxidized noticeably,
although it's still quite drinkable. I also tried making white wine
from Jack Keller's recipe, although I added more grape juice in the
middle of secondary in order to get something strong and fizzy. This
tasted oxidized too, but I had a lot going on there. I wanted to make
sure my taste is on, and then figure out what to do to save my butt from
this happening again.

The reason I think it was oxidized is due to washing with some vinegar.
The wine certainly didn't taste like vinegar, but in diluted amounts
the presence was about right. The smell of the wine takes on the smell
of, say, a tablespoon of vinegar in a small pot. I was washing
something peculiar out of a pot using some vinegar and I caught a wiff
of it. The smell was familiar and I figured out it was from the wine I
made.

I have glass carboys and a manual pump for racking. I can't recall what
procedure I followed when I racked from primary to secondary.
Specifically, I can't remember if I let the must plop out from the top
of the carboy. I know now that's a big no-no, and I had experience
doing this with beer later--it had made me nervous.

I think bottling is where I'm more concerned. The procedure we followed
for the wine was to fill all the bottles until the carboy was empty, and
then cork. I'm trying to think of an alternative arrangement where I
could lightly tap corks in as I go, preventing the bottles from being
open to the wild for long.

My impression has been that the wine oxidized quicker than I would have
expected, and I want to make sure that a second batch isn't so vulnerable.