Don't Get Corked
Filed in archive Wine Tasting on October 18, 2006
The big argument against corks in wine bottles is the fear of tainted wine....eekk!! That is why screw caps are on the rise.
But how many times has this actually happened to you? For me, it's only been one time and it was a bottle I bought at the grocery store, and it was super cheap, and they took it back, so no major biggie.
But, what if you are out eating? As a waitress (a very green waitress I might add) this happened to me as I was serving wine, and since the cork actually went through the bottle and into the wine, it was pretty obvious that something was wrong. Being the silly girl that I was, I at first attributed this to my lack of sommeliery skills, but my boss said, "Nope. You didn't do anything wrong. It was corked." She gave the folks a new bottle and a free appetizer.
If you don't know it's corked until you taste it, the deal is that you are to get the server's attention and tell them and send it back. But, what if you are just too chicken to do that?
This is a hilarious story of one such wine lover who just didn't have the heart to announce or explain his corked Pinot Noir issues, and what you should do if you have the guts to send it back.
From Weirded Out by Wine: "Corked wine is no one's fault," Bill Summerville, the sommelier at one local white-tablecloth palace, told me. "It's not the guest's fault, not the waiter's, not the restaurant's. If it's corked, send it back. There's no reason to make a big deal of it, on either side. If anything, there's an opportunity for the staff to show either their ignorance and lack of caring, or their professionalism." What do they do at La Belle Vie in such instances? "We ask them if they'd like to try another of the same, or move on to something else. Sometimes a corked wine will smell more and more corked as it breathes," Summerville noted. "So if you don't get it right away, just bring it up when you notice it. The waiter will normally be able to get credit from the distributor. So, he can make an ass of himself, or open a new bottle. It happens to everyone
Permalink: Don't Get Corked
Tags: wine cork sommelier Pinot Noir wines celebrate+wine
Vote for Don't Get Corked:
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Rating: 8.00 out of 7 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
Mike Haberman
(10/19/06 5:53pm)
Well here is my ignorant question.. but was does "corked" mean? Taste, pieces of cork, or ????
Response from:
Cam Wheeler
(10/24/06 8:13pm)
It has happened to me dozens of times over the past year, from very cheap bottles to very expensive bottles that has been cellered for many years (making it more difficult to return to a place of purchase).
Wine that has turned to vinegar due to an imperfect seal and air getting into the bottle would generally not be called corked.
Corked wine is mostly used to describe cork taint which refers to the chemical compound 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA).
A wine that has been in contact with a TCA affected cork may smell like a damp basement or mouldy cardboard. The palate may taste like the fruit has been stripped away.
Different bottles may have different levels of taint and different people have different natural thresholds for being able to smell the chemical. This leads to situations where a customer at a restaurant may be able to smell the taint but the sommelier cannot.
Wine that has turned to vinegar due to an imperfect seal and air getting into the bottle would generally not be called corked.
Corked wine is mostly used to describe cork taint which refers to the chemical compound 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA).
A wine that has been in contact with a TCA affected cork may smell like a damp basement or mouldy cardboard. The palate may taste like the fruit has been stripped away.
Different bottles may have different levels of taint and different people have different natural thresholds for being able to smell the chemical. This leads to situations where a customer at a restaurant may be able to smell the taint but the sommelier cannot.
Response from:
Tammy
(10/24/06 10:10pm)
Thank you, Cam. Excellent explanation. I tend to be the type that is more sensitive, but of course, my husband doesn't call me "the princess and the pea" for nothing.
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