I am quite sensitive to corked and oxidized wine. I learned to use those wines in cooking from others. If you go to an old thread on cooking with corked wine, you will find conflicting chemical theories. I am not a chemist and can’t speak to any processes at work. I am, however, not given to simply denying the experiential reports of others. If you can smell corking in dishes cooked for extended periods with corked wines, you shouldn’t use them.
What does is VA. So this is a good use for wines that had some, ummm, production issues. This morning, I did a reduction of a Grenache which miiiiight have been neglected a bit during barrel aging. I could discern no remaining ethyl acetate once the reduction got the wine down to a dark purple syrup.
Speaking of contamination, I remember an Iron Chef where the challenger would only use pre-Chernobyl French wines (if memory serves, he used an '83 Guigal Cote-Rotie).
I guess the challenger forgot about atmospheric testing of nuclear devices.
-Al
Don’t forget the sun