To cork or not to cork. A book by George.M Taber. !Long post!

[Runnin' Rebel]

The Corked Wine Smell Guide Teaches You How To Tell If A Wine Is Corked

Corked wine is something we’ve all heard of, but you may not know if you’ve ever actually encountered it. We’re going to break down what it means when a wine is ‘corked’ and what you should do when you buy a corked bottle.

Let’s start with what isn’t corked wine:

It’s not the pieces of cork floating around your wine or a cork covered in little white crystals. These crystals, which are called tartrate, are a natural by-product of some wines and are totally harmless.
You also can’t tell if a wine is corked from smelling the cork itself.
Another fun fact is if the bottle you opened used a screw cap or synthetic cork to form the seal, it can’t be corked.
So what is a corked wine? Or breaking it down further, what is corked wine smell & what is corked wine taste? A corked wine is one that has been contaminated with cork taint, and this contamination gives off a very distinct smell and taste. Cork taint occurs in a small percentage of all natural corks available in the world, with recent studies finding that only about 2%-4% of wines with natural corks are actually corked.

While drinking corked wine is not harmful to your health, it does ruin the experience, and you should always return the bottle if you believe it is corked.

How does cork taint occur? Since cork is a natural substance, little microorganisms often like to eat it, either while it’s still part of the tree or after it’s been turned into a wine cork. In small instances, these airborne fungi come in contact with the cork and create a substance known as TCA, a nasty chemical compound that ruins the wine the second the wine in the bottle comes in contact with it.

Corked Wine Taste & Corked Wine Smell

So how do you know if a wine is corked? Corked wine gives off a smell that is similar to a dank moldy basement, a wet newspaper or a wet dog. When you actually sip the wine, a typical corked wine taste will be flat and dull, exhibiting no fruit characteristics. Some people also say that corked wine tastes astringent.


Interestingly, scientists, doing what scientists do, have actually uncovered a way to extract the TCA out of the wine, thereby removing the cork taint. This involves a process of letting the wine soak in a pitcher with a wad of plastic wrap for about 15 minutes and then pouring the wine into a new vessel, leaving the plastic wrap behind. The researchers that discovered this trick at UC Davis claim the TCA bonds to the plastic wrap and removes the cork taint from the wine, but we say why bother with this trick; life’s too short to drink bad wine and you should simply return the bottle. Any wine store that won’t accept a return on a corked bottle is a wine shop you should not patronize! I've yet to deal with this (knock on wood)

Again about 2%-4% of wines that use natural cork get this old newspaper smell. Lots of synthetic corks, screw caps and glass are being used now. I've included a picture of a glass cork. Right now Whitehall lane uses this on its reserve Cabernet, very interesting and I've had my share of this nice wine.

The below link shows how to have a glass of wine with out indroducing air to the bottle if you want to taste it and drink the rest of it possibly 12 months or later. It replaces the oxygen that enters the bottle when you punch in the needle With a inert gas of argon that moves in the bottle and removes the oxygen, pushing the wine out into your glass.
It's an interesting concept which has been proven.

The link below doesn't improved corked wine but can save the rest of the wine if you can't finish it and it's not already corked. Great invention if you have high end wine you just want 1 or 2 glass of it.

http://youtu.be/-6Pkw9QsfnE

^^Linked to the Coravin Wine preservation system . Enjoy Wine Without Committing To The Entire Bottle‎. Restart the short video if it's already at the end.

Long post, sorry but very interesting*

* some of this was copied off the interweb

[Rock]

Thanks Mark, interesting article.
I have had a couple of bottles that have been 'corked' over 40 years of wine drinking.
The first time I had no idea what it was and simply regarded it as 'spoiled'.
The second time I had read about it and knew what was going on.
No question of taking the wine back as it had been in my cellar for years.

On a related track, I have tried a few methods of 'preserving' wine overnight in order to finish a bottle the next day. One involved a plastic membrane that is inserted into the bottle and lies on the surface of the wine to eliminate contact with the air. It seemed to help although my experience is that old wine needs to be completely consumed in a sitting as it is usually vinegar the next day.
I have never tried the Argon air replacement but it is said to be reliable and is about A$26. for a spray can that will do at least 30 applications. I will give it a try.