Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Corked Wines

Have you ever opened a bottle of wine to find it smelling like a wet dog? That is commonly caused by a bacteria in the cork called trichloroanisole or TCA. That is why so many wineries are looking to different closures for wine. The most common is the screw cap or Stelvin Enclosure. There are also synthetic corks and a new product which is a glass cork. I'm thinking you will start seeing more and more of these. I've attached a link to this entry which explains cork taint, how to identify it and what exactly it is. You won't get sick or worse drinking "tainted" wine, but it sure takes the enjoyment out of a good bottle of wine. That is exactly why I think that the screw cap is going to be the way to go.
Like you, I still enjoy hearing that "pop" when a bottle is opened, but I absolutely hate smelling that wine and realizing that the very nice, non replaceable bottle of wine I just opened for my dinner guests is worse than a jug of cheap wine...
The question I have is; if a bottle of wine that has been ruined by cork taint is corked, is a bottle of wine which has gone bad because the seal on a screw cap failing, is it "screwed"?

Cheers!