Paul Gregutt
Wine adviser 

    Q. On Christmas eve my husband was uncorking a nice bottle of cabernet. As he took the cork out the wine exploded up all over the ceiling and cupboards. This has never happened to us before and we were wondering what would cause this as we had just purchased an entire case of this wine.
A. Exploding cabernet you say! That’s not the sort of holiday surprise you were hoping for, I’m sure. I hope that no actual explosion (of glass) occurred. It sounds from your note as if the wine exploded out of the top, much as a bottle of bubbly will do if it is shaken up, rather than the actual bottle itself.
If this was a bottle of still red wine, as I assume it was, the only explanation I can come up with is that it underwent an accidental refermentation in the bottle. This would cause a buildup of carbon dioxide and would unleash an explosion of wine when the cork was pulled. It’s not out of the question, if that is in fact what happened, that the rest of the bottles in your case of wine could be subject to the same problem. Worse yet, if the refermentation continues, the actual glass could explode, and that could be dangerous. I would suggest you return the wines to the shop where they were purchased and ask for a refund. In any event, be very careful when handling them until the actual cause of the problem has been determined.