I had a Napa 2009 cab sauv x cab Franc. On the nose, I could smell alcohol and not much fruit. When I tasted it, there was great balance but it was tart.
Was this wine: 1/ past peak, 2/ stored improperly/flawed, 3/ normal and I don’t like aged wine?
Thanks
Likely needs decanting.
Interesting. How long?
It’s hard to diagnose from the info provided. When you say “tart”, was it vinegary or just acidic? When you say it lacked fruit, that could be normal aging of a not great wine, or normal aging of a good wine and you just don’t like the more aged profile, but it could also be a number of other potential flaws or issues with the wine, like low levels of cork taint or reduction. Did the wine improve after being open for some time? Because I agree with the suggestion of decanting to see if it improves. Start with half an hour and check on it from there.
One other thought… was it opened when still cellar cool? That can influence what we smell and taste.
A second thought… you mentioned not much fruit on the nose, was it there as expected on the palate? If not, it might be mild cork taint (TCA), masking the fruit, resulting in the acidity standing out.
Loads more possibilities. If you have a 2nd bottle of that wine on hand, it might be very useful to open it, ideally whilst this wine still feels strong in the memory. It might be it tastes just fine, lending weight to the TCA theory (or other taint/spoilage). If it tastes the same, it might be how that wine is (maybe a clumsy acid addition in the winery).
I would do a slow ox and see what you get on day 2. It can’t hurt especially for this type of blend.
I should also mention the cork crumbled when I opened the bottle. But I tried a regular corkscrew rather than an ah so or durand.
The fruit didn’t show up. Tart but not vinegar. The wine still had exceptional feel in the mouth and was still balanced (if that makes sense)
It improved slighted, but still pucker inducing in terms of tartness.
Sounds like either an unbalanced wine not made to age, or poor storage i,e countertop
Thanks for the extra insight.
In terms of balance, would you describe that as ‘easy drinking except for the tartness of the acidity’? Or balanced in terms of tannins vs. viscosity in the mouth? Or something else. I’m still leaning towards TCA / cork taint, but it’s difficult to be certain (and FWIW even when tasting a wine myself, I’m not super-sensitive to TCA).
As it wasn’t mushroomy, I think the cork crumbling is coincidental, as it doesn’t sound like oxidation / being too old as the culprit. IMO using a normal corkscrew on a 2009 vintage wine is sensible… it’s when the wine is 3+ decades old when I’d start thinking about such specialist tools.
I left it in my fridge overnight. Day 2 it has opened. Tastes more like other aged wines I’ve had. Still tart but less.
Air tends to soften red wines.
How long do you typically decant? I usually do an hour.
Hard question, but usually any air helps young or young ish red wines. if I have multiple bottles I save a bit for a second day when opening the first bottle and see how it tastes. That gives you an idea. Not all wines improve with extended air time and some folks like a more vibrant wine than what decanting will provide.
Another possible explanation is that the wine is more of a food wine than a cocktail wine. Some wines do better with food than on their own.
