Comments on: (Don’t) Put a Cork In It: What to do About Corked Wine

By: sasha

sasha — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:33:55 +0000

That’s a terrific point. When it’s not completely overt, consumers might just think it’s part of the style. I taught a class once where one of the bottles was corked and one was healthy. It was actually a great exercise — I had them compare and contrast the two to get that corked aroma really fixed in their minds/noses. This can be particularly tricky with certain styles — those that tend to the green/vegetal (eg, Loire reds) or the rubbery (eg, a lot of South Africa wines.)

By: Todd Wernstrom

Todd Wernstrom — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 20:16:52 +0000

I know this post was from a pretty long time ago, but the subject of corked bottles is always worth revisiting. I think that of more significance is when a bottle is a bit off (the French call it “peu de bouché”), but not outright corked. Most consumers are fortunate because they’ll probably not come across more than a handful of corked bottles in their consuming lifetimes. It’s the slightly off ones that are much more common. Winemakers fear them far more than truly corked bottles because unless the consumer is familiar with the producer or the region the slightly off bottle comes from, they may just decide that the “style” is one they don’t care for and move on. That’s a shame, obviously, because the wine may have been one that he/she would have really liked if it had only shown itself properly.

By: David Coffey

David Coffey — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 21:22:21 +0000

The saran wrap method does diminish the corkiness, but my experience is that even with very slightly corked wines, you never regain the complexity on the nose or palate of an uncorked bottle. The wine that remains is often quite drinkable, but seems to have lost its high and low notes.