Determining flawed/bad/corked wine directly from restaurant cellar

[Oliver_McCrum]

Are you extremely sensitive to TCA?

I am admitted relatively insensitive to TCA but rarely have a single bottle that’s corked at a restaurant much less 3 of the same wine.

Like Steve noted, if I’m not sure I ask to let it sit a few minutes to get a better idea as to if it’s flawed or not. How that works seems to depend on if there is a Somm or not. In places with a Somm, if they didn’t serve the wine, the request for time usually results in a very quick visit from the Somm and more often than not, he/she ends up replacing the bottle before I have even made a final verdict.

Things can get way more interesting at places who don’t have a Somm and maybe don’t fully understand wines. I have had a couple of real interesting experiences with places like this where the waiter/waitress didn’t understand what was the problem or what I wanted done. In one place, I had to practically fight to get a replacement of the same wine. She wanted to bring me something different thinking it was the wine I didn’t like and didn’t understand it was flawed. I did eventually get a replacement bottle that was sound and since I had a little of the first in my glass was able to show here how the first wasn’t correct. Another time, I sent back two bottles as corked and the third was still corked. I’m ashamed to admit that I accepted this bottle but I really didn’t think a third rejection wasn’t going to result in a positive outcome.

Sometimes wineries use agglomerated corks, and sometimes batches of agglomerated cork are ALL slightly corked.

(The only agglomerated cork that we now accept is Diam.)

[Barry_L_i_p_t_o_n]

Durpr

[Barry_L_i_p_t_o_n]

I’m surprised by the low TCA percentages given by people who say they’re sensitive. In my experience only 1/3 to 1/2 of the bottles impacted by the TCA have a wet cardboard smell.

Or often it’s a very flat wine with a clipped finish that you only know is off because you’ve had the bottle a few times before. The very clipped finish is what gives it away to me.

[etomasi]

I havent had many problems with returning corked glasses or bottles or wine, except as noted earlier where its a restaurant that doesnt have a somm. Usually its ok, but at one place in Spain, I let others drink it and ordered another bottle. For an $18 euro wine, it wasnt worth the hassle sending back. The folks I were with didnt notice.

The most interesting was a bottle of 2000 Duval-Leroy Femme de Champagne we got at a Michelin 3 star in France. It was definitely not showing correctly… flat and dull with a chemical note; but all the somms (they had multiple) disagreed and we had a rather lengthy discussion. They agreed to take it back and we got something else. I’ve had that wine subsequently and it showed much differently, so I don’t know if they were trying to save money, or they honestly thought it was correct.