Anyone else experiencing an increase in “bad” or “corked” wine lately? I don’t know if it’s the storage conditions related to shipping, or a reduction in QC, especially when sending old stock to backdoor distributors , but 6 of the last 12 bottles I have opened ended up either returned, or down the drain. All 6 of the bottles were purchased at different times, from different web sites, or local wine shops…
-Mike
I buy 90% of my wines direct from the producer but 90% of my corked or off wines come from the 10% I buy retail or online.
Is this related? I thought, for the purposes of corked wine, the wine’s fate was sealed when the cork went into the bottle. Is TCA environmental too?
As to the first post, I was having a terrible run of corked bottles early in the year but not since March.
Maybe it is time to invest in a biodynamic calendar 
I will say, only TWICE have a experienced a corked, or simply bad bottle of wine directly from the producer…both times they sent me a replacement.
Absolutely not. Cork taint is equal opportunity. But some cork suppliers have more TCA issues than others. Just seems that when I have a corked bottle it seems to be one I purchased retail. The OP mentioned bad/damaged wine as well and all those for me have come through some retail/resale outlet. Can’t say I have seen an increase lately as far as my wines go.
As for wineries replacing corked bottles, I have never had one refuse replacement regardless of where it was purchased.
It’s just the nature of statistical fluctuations that you’ll have some periods of more frequent problems with corked wines. As far as the source, “artisanal” producers tend to buy better corks and gravitate towards cork sources that have fewer issues. But I’ve had plenty of corked bottles I purchased direct from a producer (most recent one was last night).
-Al
I would consider it a normal anomaly, if you will. Right now I am in just the opposite situation. I have had very few corked/brett/VA bottles in a recent string of excellent bottles. Out of the last 20 bottles, I have had 1 brett affected 2000 Ducru, 17 wonderful wines, and two that I just didn’t care for the style.
I run a very low rate much lower than the 4-5% i’ve seen on this board.
Maybe I’m lucky?
I have my usual bad luck with older bottles but anecdotally I’ve seen a sustantial decline in TCA in new releases in recent years. A rare piece of good news.
I was on a nice run of several months without a corked bottle. Then last week on the same night I had back to back corked bottles - '06 Thackrey Andromeda pinot and '06 RM Summa Vyd. pinot (which Will was kind enough to replace with an '11). The third choice was not corked - I switched to a gin martini.