I don’t know why, but I never considered the possibility of getting a corked Champagne. But for sure, this bottle is corked. I had a clean stem, as in no possibility of “cupboard smell.” I still moved it to a freshly washed stem. Same thing. Corked. Sniffed the cork…not so good. Fortunately, I had a bottle of the same and of the same lot. Totally different. And as is common with corked wines, the wine from the first bottle is increasing in its corky smell.
The wine? Delamotte Brut. I just walked into the kitchen and was overwhelmed by the TCA rising in the room. Going to dump that baby now.
This wine is one of my daily drinkers. I am sure my Champagne enabler will replace it.
A second bottle of the same - in part for comparison, and in part because it was there. I drink a fair amount of Champagne, and I never had one like that first bottle.
I had a clean stem, as in no possibility of “cupboard smell.”
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Off topic, but I couldn’t help noticing your comment on “cupboard smell.” I HATE this. I assume it’s the polyurethane or whatever is used to seal and treat the wood or laminate of cabinets. Our old house imparted a terrible smell when glasses were in there for more than a few days. So when we designed the new house, we built the glassware cabinet entirely out of steel and glass. No smells anymore, and it’s really attractive, too.
Off topic, but I couldn’t help noticing your comment on “cupboard smell.” I HATE this. I assume it’s the polyurethane or whatever is used to seal and treat the wood or laminate of cabinets. Our old house imparted a terrible smell when glasses were in there for more than a few days. So when we designed the new house, we built the glassware cabinet entirely out of steel and glass. No smells anymore, and it’s really attractive, too.
[/quote]For those of us with sensitive senses of smell, this can indeed be overwhelming. I like your suggestion, Sarah, of steel and glass. Will keep that one in mind…
Interesting. I too have never had a corked Champagne. In fact, I’ve only had 1 corked sparkler… it was a cheap Prosecco someone brought into work. I told people it was corked, they looked at me quizzically and drank it anyways, sigh.
Also, good on the “cupboard smell” we too will be redoing our kitchen so I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks!
One thing to consider is that most folks serve whites, and pretty much everyone serves sparkling, quite cold. As aromatics are ‘volatile’, the ‘cool’ temperatures might help ‘hide’ the TCA until the wine warms up. I have had a few corked Champages and know others who are much less fortunate - and in most cases, the TCA was not ‘obvious’ until the wine was at room temperature.
Likewise, since most reds are served at ‘cellar’ or ‘room’ temperature, the TCA is more often than not much more obvious.
MAny times the cupboard smell does not reveal itself until the wine is in the glass. Sure, if the glass has been in there for months, but often a sniff is just a sniff. The offending odor sometimes needs wine in the glass.
If only my palate were as astute as my nose.
We had a bottle of NV Geoffrey Troy ‘Expression’ [Champagne] today at lunch that didn’t seem right. Maybe it was slightly impaired - either TCA or heat - but one of the rare times the SO didn’t finish her second glass of sparkly. I haven’t had this importer before (is it related to the NYC shipping enterprise?) but it seems to be part of the Skurnik lineup.
I can hardly recall corked Champers. Maybe the cold serving temps conceals it.
I echo what Larry said. Also something about the bubbles seems to mask the TCA as well.
Anyways, had a corked 2000 Krug two weeks ago and a 95 Grand Dame a couple months before that.
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Had 4 corked La Grande Dames out of the last 4, 2 from 96, 1 from 95 and 1 from 99`. Each was sourced from different places. Used to buy it for my wife and toast to the grand dame in front of me, but no more purchases for that occasion.