Does the Domaine have any responsibility for a corked La Tache and Premoxed Clos des Mouches

Lady Luck was not good to us last week; we went to a friend’s house who served a la Tache 1996 was pretty seriously corked, nothing apparent apart from corkiness.

Before that, the Clos des Mouches was a 2007 and again was not pleasant, and certainly on the wrong side of the hill. We had lesser replacements for both bottles.


Given the wines were properly stored and the owner had done everything required of him, so should have had an expectation that the wine would be fault free, does he have any recourse with either producer either for a replacement of the original vintage or a current one?

Yes they do have responsibility…but good luck with that.

Under UK law, my understanding is the domaine has no responsibility, its with the retailler.

But there is no (or very limited) case law for items many years after retail.

I think I have probably had 7 or 8 (at least ) corked DRC’s, but so far nothing back in return!!

I’m pretty sure DRC does not replace corked bottles. One of many reasons I will never buy one of their wines.

It’s interesting that a producer can put into the marketplace a product that has a one in ten chance of defective, and not have any responsibility for it.

Any thoughts on the premoxed Drouhin?

Last year I had a La Mouline 1999 (bought here in Denmark upon release) which was corked. I contacted Maison Guigal and told them about the corked bottle and I offered to ship the bottle (with wine) and cork to France so they could check it. A week later a replacement bottles of La Mouline 1999 arrived at my doorstep straight from Maison Guigal.

Best service I have ever experienced

from my experience, Wilson Daniels won’t even respond.
alan

Similar experience with R. López de Heredia:

I bought some bottles of 1987 LdH Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva Blanco from a retailer in Barcelona. Opened one of them a few weeks after and it was corked. One of my friends who was there at the same dinner told a contact of his in LdH (this was months before we distributed some of their wines in Manila) and they sent me a replacement bottle immediately (via air). I was most impressed as a consumer, and that friend and I eventually partnered in a small venture and our first few shipments were LdH wines.

Based on my experience, more like 3-5%. The most painful TCA tainted bottle for me was the 85 Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux.

Mark,

Regarding the Drouhin, I would really have your friend follow up with the retailer first, if it’s a 2007 it’s not that far off in the past. The retailer might offer some type of credit. I doubt you’d get the same bottle of current vintage or a replacement 2007, however. If that fails, contact the US Importer, Dreyfus Ashby. http://www.dreyfusashby.com/ to see if they can get your friend something through the retailer or a local retailer. Drouhin is distributed by Southern/Lauber in NY, they can absorb the cost of a corked bottle if they choose. Contacting the Domaine would just take more time and they’d backchannel through Dreyfus Ashby anyway to get you something if they were willing.

Good luck!

Although I won’t disclose which producers or importers or retailers, I have been successful in returning premoxed white Burg both to retailers and importers. It takes persistence, but it can be done. In your case, the DRC is far too old to really do anything. But the Drouhin sounds like you have a shot. I would follow Brent’s advise. In theory always go to the retailer first, then distributor, importer, winery in that order. Expect less cooperation as you progress.

I once had a few bottles of a wine that had a label from 2001 and a cork from 2002. After contacting the winery, it appeared I had a 2002 vintage, but the winery laughed it off and took no responsibility. And this was after I followed the “chain of command”. The importer blew me off. The bottle was too old to return to the retailer. BTW-the winery is not known for this type of label/cork discepancy. I would also note, that one’s relationship with their retailer will determine the extent by which they will accomodate your complaint.

Oh, BTW, do you have the partially full bottle? Or did you pour it all out and then dump? It is a bit complicated to go to a retailer with an open, empty bottle or nothing in hand (assuming you don’t have a receipt) and ask for some type of refund for a corked bottle.

Actually, they were not my wines (I brought untainted claret) so not sure what happened to the bottles. He is not the type to pursue it and I suspect the wines have been poured away.

Mark, no offense, but then what’s the point of asking? At least others have a road map for future reference, I guess…

Brent,

The fact that importers have blown people off saying the wines are too old to have any kind of warranty is absurd. The wines are intended to be aged; by cellaring them you are trying to enjoy them at their best. Being forced to open them within a short period of time to be sure that they are correct is equally absurd. A corked wine is a manufacturers defect, and I am not sure why the consumer ends up having to shoulder the entire cost of it.

Had they been my wines, I would have done something about it. The reason I posed the question was to see whether or not that would be justifiable.

Personally, I believe Mark is right and I would suggest the squeaky wheel approach. I once bought a pre-mox’ed Montrachet from Drouhin and initially no one would step up (I bought it on a Monday and Thursday it went down the drain at the restaurant; the sommelier would not even serve it). I kept on and on, and threatened to get amex involved, and Wilson Daniels replaced the bottle.

I have a corked 1995 DRC RSV that is sitting in the pantry. It would be great to get something back on it but I am resigned to the fact that I will not. Still difficult to biff it out. I have asked and got corked wines replaced on other occasions, typically when drunk young but some suppliers are less welcoming than others, and if it is going to impact on allocations of rare wines the ramification needs to be considered. In a restaurant I have no hesitation sending a TCA wine back…

Mark,

I agree that it seems like a strange situation vis a vis other consumer products. However a cardinal point is that alcoholic beverages are not given the same treatment in the US as other consumer products. Therefore the chain of responsiblity is not the same as if you have a problem with a sweater or a car or a refridgerator. Someone with your level of knowledge and experience should know and understand that. You started this thread with a very pointed question, now you are opening up a much bigger can of worms in my opinion.

Wilfred,

Wilson Daniels was the importer for DRC, are you mixing up DRC & Drouhin?