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+--- Thread: Does the cork show that a wine is corked? (/thread-16678.html)
- TheEngineer - 01-06-2005
I've read and been told by colleagues that if a wine is corked then I should bring it back to the wine store so that at least they will know about it. Not necessarily trying to get a refund this time (since the wine was not expensive), but just for knowledge.
Are there signs on the cork that the wine is corked. What does it look like, what would I look for?
The wine I opened tonight I thought would have issues the moment I put my corkscrew in. The cork turned with the corkscrew after just barely entering the cork.
[This message has been edited by TheEngineer (edited 01-05-2005).]
- Zinner - 01-06-2005
There is nothing that you will see on the cork to tip you off that a wine is corked. It's nothing you can see with your eyes. (Corks can look funky and still be good.) It's a chemical compound, trichloroanisole (TCA) from a tainted cork. Occurs from a reaction from the bleaching process and molds in the cork.
Where you'll notice it is in the nose...musty smell sort of like moldy cardboard. It's distinctive and when you've experienced it, you'll learn to recognize it. If you're at a tasting and somebody reliable recognizes a corked bottle, try to get a whiff, so you'll know. Also the wine won't taste as good, though it won't hurt you to drink it. Corked wines tend to lose their fruitiness.
Sometimes wines have off-putting aromas that have nothing to do with being corked, but a lot of these will "blow off" if you let the wine breathe a bit. If the wine is corked, it'll just get worse as it sits.
It's been a major problem for the wine industry, so after much experimentation with alternative closures, a number have decided that a special form of screwcap is the best answer, if they can get consumers to accept it. Bonny Doon has gone to screwcaps. A number of New Zealand wineries banded together to go to screwcaps. R.H. Phillips has put up a website at corkamnesty.com.
The biggest problem for the wine industry is not refunding your money for the bottles that are corked. It's the chance that a consumer will get a corked bottle and not recognize it as corked. Then the winedrinker just thinks that winery makes bad wine and won't buy it again.
Expect to see more and more screwcaps. But it's a good thing.
- Thomas - 01-06-2005
Put some cardboard into a glass of chlorinated water, let stand for an hour and them smell. That is close to what a TCA tainted wine, and cork, smells like; and no, you can't see evidence of the taint--but you can smell and taste it as Zinner described.
One thing to add: TCA taint is not confined to cork. Some wineries have been tainted by the bug too (wherever there is a porous surface and chlorine is used as a sanitizer, the taint is possible) and then it gets into the cork and bottle. I have stopped using the term "corked" and now refer to TCA taint.
- wondersofwine - 01-06-2005
A bottle of wine can also have a cork that has dried out and will crumble when you try to extract it (happened to me with a 1995 Oregon Pinot Noir recently). If the cork has allowed for leaks, the wine may be oxidized and prematurely over-the-hill. This is a different flaw from the TCA taint.