Someone once said "The times they are a changin' "
I remember back in the day regardless if you were a wine snob or not, you stayed away from any wines that got capped with a screw top. These were generally considered "bum" wines and had a taste of turpentine mixed with fruit juice and maybe with a slight bouquet of urine. That said, screw top wines still had their place. MD 20/20 or a Boones farm was a staple when you couldn't get enough money together for a case of Budweiser. What did you do when one of the girls said "I don't like beer" ACK! Now what?!? Whoa, No need to panic, A screw top 20/20 is just what you needed! They always did their job and did it quickly. Many a prom queen panties have hit a Jersey Shore's hotel floor thanks to a Bon Jovi mixed tape and bottle of MD 20/20's "Red Grape".
With this being my experience growing up you can imagine my horror when some of my first wines ordered a few years ago came with screw tops. Later on I would discover that many of today's vineyards are now capping with screw tops. About 80% of all Australia's and almost all of New Zealand's wine are now cork free. This was hard for me to accept. Personally I enjoy the ritual of opening a corked bottle. The cutting of the foil, the different types of cork screws, the smell of the cork, and of course the "Pop". Hell, I have multiple corkscrew sets that are useless to open this new bottling of wines! This is heresy I tell you!!!
Or is it?
Cork is a natural product taken from the bark of cork oak tress that are between 6-9 years old. It's an understatement to say in today's world supply can not keep up with demand. With the worlds supply dwindling the prices of cork stoppers have shot up. At the same time the overall quality of the cork as gone down due to several cost/time saving measures.
This is bad as there is an innate risk of "cork failure" even with the highest rated of corks. So with this I give you today's wine word. Corked The term "Corked" can mean a few different things. Mostly it means that a naturally occurring chemical TCA was present in the cork stopper and the wine now exhibits signs of taint. The wine may still be drinkable though. It's flavors may just be muted a bit and/or have a slight musty smell. Think wet newspaper, damp basement, etc. Since it has been accepted that about 6-7% of all cork stopper wine has TCA present, anyone who regularly drinks wine will encounter a "corked" wine eventually.
On to today's wine choice:
Nicolas,Valensac Morency - Bordeaux - 1998
Varietal: Red Bordeaux
Country: France
Region: Gironde
Town: Blanquefort
Alcohol: 12%
Availability: I have no idea. In fact I can't find anything on this wine. There isn't anything on Nicolas wines other then a reseller. Valensac Morency does show up as a winery but they have no mention of this wine. The entire label being in French doesn't help either.
A week or so ago K and I sat down to enjoy a bottle of wine, some cheese and some Anime I grabbed a bottle of Bordeaux I've been cellaring for years. I have no idea how I got it or exactly when but I kept it in cellar waiting for a good time to pop the cork and enjoy.
I cut the foil and noticed a small amount of "crust" on one side of the cork. I thought to myself "That's not a good sign" Undeterred I wiped of the little crystals and spun the corkscrew in to the cork. As I pulled the cork out I noticed a small defect on the cork wall. A tiny darkened channel no more then 1/32 of an inch weaved up to the top of the cork. Again, I thought to myself "That's not a good sign" I sniffed the bottom of the cork to see what I was in store for. It had the typical "corked" or TCA mustiness that I was afraid of. I was still not going to give up on this 10 year old Bordeaux. I could deal with a slight "corking" of it.
As I pored it I noticed that the mostly red color did have a slight oxidation to it. I almost tried to sell myself on what I saw. "It's not so bad, it's only a slight tint" I told myself. I raised the glass and took a whiff. "Whoa, That's not good" A slightly strong acidic smell rose up. Similar to say...oh, vinegar.
I had to try it. I just couldn't just give up on something I've been waiting so long for. I just had too.
I raised my glass again and took a small sip hoping that it was only the smell and not the pallet that was changed. I mean, I could deal with that. Right?
"FUCK!" **Cough** **Can't Breath** **Cough** **Nostrils burning** **Gag** "Holy shit" **Cough** **Wheeze**
It was now apparent that this 10 year old Bordeaux I've been saving is now a 10 year old bottle of Bordeaux vinegar. No, this bottle wasn't just corked, it was fucking VINEGAR! Over the past 10 years a complete breakdown of the alcohol occurred due to a faulty natural cork.
As I sat there, eyes watering, nostrils and throat burning from the intense acetic acid I had just ingested I had to concede that a 300+ year old French winery could learn a thing or two about bottling from Boones Farm right about now.