“Taint” What It Should Be!
Dining out with great friends and with a great bottle of wine is one of the pleasures in life. In a nice restaurant, there is a process, once you have selected a wine from the list (or brought one from home), of serving the wine. The server will present the bottle to allow you to confirm that it is what you ordered and then open the bottle.
The Cork
The server will then present the cork. Did you ever wonder what that was about? It has nothing to do with the quality of the wine per se. The practice began years ago when wily folks would find expensive bottles, fill them with inexpensive wine, and then charge the high price for the precious bottle. Counterfeiting was alive and well in the olden days. While the counterfeiters maybe could match the color of the wine, they could not match the winery’s cork. So…the practice, which has become a ritual, was to present the cork to the customer to allow him to ensure that the name on the cork matched the bottle label.
Odors that Indicate a Flaw
The next step in wine service is to pour a small amount to allow the customer to smell and taste the wine to ensure that it is not tainted. There are a few odors that you should be on the lookout for, both in a restaurant and when opening a bottle at home, because these odors suggest a flawed or tainted bottle.
First, be on the lookout for the notorious “corked” bottle. The smell will be that of wet cardboard. It is a mustiness. Take a piece of a cardboard box and soak it in a glass of water to become familiar. The industry statistic for corked bottles is one in ten.
Another flaw to be on the lookout for is VA – volatile acidity. After a wine sits open for more than a couple days, especially in warmth, you will get a vinegar odor. When you smell that, send it back. One of the places I find this flaw the most is at hotels; because, at the bar, those bottles sit open for several days. Just this past week, I sent a glass back. Odors of finger nail polish or varnish are also indications of VA.
The creation of hydrogen sulfide is another flaw that is a result of considerable reduction in the wine during fermentation, and that smells like rotten eggs or sewer gas. Those odors are not fun at all!
During the wine making process, sulfur dioxide may be used. Residuals may be captured in the bottle, creating an odor like a matchstick or wet wool. This may “blow off” after a few minutes; but, if it’s overpowering, it’s not pleasurable to drink.
A final item to consider is oxidation. This is a result of age or poor storage conditions. The fruit will taste dull; there will be a presence of tertiary aromas like leather; and the wine will have a flat finish.
What to Do??
Wine with any of these flaws is not desirable, and you should feel very comfortable sending the wine back (unless, of course, you brought it yourself!). In a restaurant, you should expect to have well-stored wine, and be aware that the supplier will take back tainted wine. I’ve returned bottles to stores from which I purchased the wine and received a refund. I’ve also obtained replacements from wineries when I’ve received a bad bottle. These occurrences are rare, but know that producers will stand behind their wine. Don’t be shy here, because (as they say) life is too short to drink bad wine!
Have a great bottle this week, and enjoy!