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Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Uncork THIS: Time to Put a Stop to ‘Corked’ Wines
My wine-tasting buddy celebrated a milestone wedding anniversary last year by inviting four other couples to a Cincinnati-area restaurant. To transform the occasion into something even more special, he brought along a three-liter bottle — equivalent to four standard-sized bottles — of 1985 Caymus Special Select Cabernet Sauvignon, one of California1s most highly regarded and prestigious red wines.
The bottle was corked.
A few weeks ago, the same friend brought to a tasting a 1995 Huet Vouvray Cuvee Constance, a legendary dessert wine from France’s Loire Valley that earned a perfect 100-point score from both Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and by Wine Spectator magazine – a rare feat indeed.
It too was corked.
In both cases, the taint hadn’t permeated the wines completely. That almost made it more maddening. The faint aromas of wet cardboard, damp basement, old socks, wet dog — whatever your description of the smell associated with trichloroanisole, or TCA — were just enough to sabotage what should have been mind-blowing wines.
Whether you knew it at the time or not, you’ve tasted TCA-tainted wines. It can happen to an $80 cabernet just as easily as an $8 wine. Estimates vary on how many wines are turning up corked these days: Most run 3 to 5 percent, some reach 7 percent and higher. I’m beginning to suspect the higher estimates may be more accurate.
Ladies and gentlemen, to borrow from Shakespeare, we have suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and it’s now time to take arms against this sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them. In other words: Enough!
Screwcap producers say their twist-offs represent The Answer, and just in the last few days, a group of New Zealand winemakers have decided to take their campaign for screwcap closures global through an International Screwcap Initiative.
Meanwhile, makers of synthetic corks tout their products, while producers of natural cork insist they can resolve the problem.
I’m leaning toward the screwtop solution.
Too many synthetic corks I’ve encountered don1t want to budge from the bottle. I’ve had corkscrews break in my hands while trying to remove synthetic corks. If these closures are ready for prime time, they haven’t shown it.
And I’m wary of the reassurances from the natural cork producers. To those whose product has fouled far too many wines already, I say: prove yourselves.
The International Screwcap Initiative –- an offshoot from an effort by a group of New Zealand winemakers — have already attracted the support of some large-scale French winemakers. More importantly, perhaps, long-term studies are underway to determine how wines age under a screwcap closure. I’m hoping for positive results.
Some wine aficionados — as well as some who pretend to be — bemoan the loss of the tradition-filled ritual of cork removal. I’ll mourn that loss, too. For about 30 seconds.
I am very interested in knowing what you think about this topic. Pick a question, or weigh in on ‘em all:
— Would you have any hesitation in buying wines closed with a screwcap? What about with synthetic corks? Have you had any negative experiences with those alternative closures?
— What’s your experience been with cork-tainted wines?
— What should my unlucky wine-drinking buddy do about his misfortune? Should he attempt to contact the wineries at this point to complain about wines that were 8 and 20 years old upon consumption? (I know I’d be willing to testify that these wines were not oxidized – they were corked. Period.)
And last but not least: if everybody moves to screwcaps, does that mean I have to change the name of my wine blog to “Unscrewed?”
Cheers!
Mark Fisher
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