Anyone here who drinks wine would know that something like 5% of bottles under cork are tainted with 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) which gives the wine a mouldy taste. I am very sensitive to this – and to most other mould smells and tastes. They say that a higher percentage of bottles affected by low levels of TCA are “flattened” with much of the wine aroma and flavour gone. I can’t say that I can pick this.
Following a very bad batch of corked wine, the Clare producers, lead by Jeffrey Grosset, adopted screw caps firstly for their riesling then for most of their products. And screw caps have spread pretty widely around the Australian wine industry. CSIRO work (sorry, can’t find a link) suggests that even aged reds are not effected by use of screw tops, except insofar a TCA is avoided.
The French wine industry by and large is staying with cork though a sommelier in a Paris restaurant told me that the 5% figure matched his experience. He said that he made sure bad bottles never reached the table.
Now, a case study: you are managing a cork producer. About 5% of your production is tainted and will cause serious damage to the wine it seals. What do you do? A lot of R&D and quality control to remove the problem?
No of course not. You would run a PR campaign with the help of WWF and other Green groups saying that the Iberian lynx and other wonderful animals and plants will be destroyed if we continue to selfishly demand wine that does not smell like an old damp, second hand bookshop.
Ken, did you see this story yesterday?
‘World’s oldest champagne’ found on Baltic seabed.
C.L.
19 Jul 10 at 6:49 pm
This is lazy marketing. My guess is the green groups got to them and offered to help before anyone within the industry sorted about a better strategy. If I was advising the cork industry, I would point them toward to the fashion revival of the cork wedges (http://bit.ly/dzGLoR) and the wonderful sound-proofing and insulating qualities of cork in building and decorating (http://bit.ly/d0tdjz). And my all means co-operate with green groups on promoting it as a sustainable material. Why not collaborate with design schools to run a competition for new products designed with cork? Cork is a very unique material and should have a multitude of uses. Relying on retaining the wine business is short sighted and fruitless (no pun intended).
Kate Nielsen
19 Jul 10 at 7:40 pm
I saw this recently – can’t remember where.
Sinclair Davidson
19 Jul 10 at 7:56 pm
I’m no wine buff but the purists hate screw-tops, don’t they?
Wasn’t there a cork shortage or something?
C.L.
19 Jul 10 at 8:05 pm
Cork is shit.
.
19 Jul 10 at 8:07 pm
Curious that the same environmentalists who stand in the way of forestry (eg in Tasmania) are now campaigning for the exploitation of cork trees in Portugal.
Samuel J
19 Jul 10 at 8:08 pm
Why’s that, Dot?
C.L.
19 Jul 10 at 8:08 pm
CL – the wine buffs I know love screw-tops – most of the wine makers I know prefer the screw cap because it has fewer failures and is less expensive.
Samuel J
19 Jul 10 at 8:10 pm
Has anyone here ever had mulled wine? I’ve been reading Scarrow’s Roman series and talk of warmed wine has piqued my interest in trying some. Particular this time of year.
dover_beach
19 Jul 10 at 8:22 pm
Has anyone here ever had mulled wine?
.
Yes. It’s excellent in cold weather. Recommended.
Adrien
19 Jul 10 at 8:24 pm
And corks suck. Even if it doesn;t ruin the drop.
Adrien
19 Jul 10 at 8:25 pm
Yes, I’ve made mulled wine. And enjoyed it at Christmas markets in Germany. A perfect drink for a cold night.
Samuel J
19 Jul 10 at 8:27 pm
Oh, good. Will make some up this weekend. What would either of you or anyone else recommend for the wine and the spices? Recipes including quantities would be well-received.
dover_beach
19 Jul 10 at 8:31 pm
I recommend cinnamon DB, but I’ve never made it myself. There’s a place locally that serves it if I feel the itch. They use cinnamon. Mmmm
Adrien
19 Jul 10 at 8:33 pm
I saw that Sinc. Doesn’t bother me at all for the waiter to taste the wine. Better than that nonsense of smelling the cork
Ken Nielsen
19 Jul 10 at 8:34 pm
Just don’t use good wine d_b
Ken Nielsen
19 Jul 10 at 8:35 pm
I recall seeing Halliday say that screw caps are totally superior. My wine making cousin only uses cork for sparkling wine and where necessary for the export market. I hate it when I wine I want to try is under cork.
pedro
19 Jul 10 at 9:04 pm
I tried this recipe and it was great
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef/txt/s1679211.htm
Samuel J
19 Jul 10 at 9:16 pm
What will the kids of the future use as a float on their fishing line? Think of the children.
TerjeP
19 Jul 10 at 11:08 pm
Thanks, SJ. BTW, that is a great cooking show.
dover_beach
19 Jul 10 at 11:17 pm
And TerjeP, what will we hang around our hats?
Ken Nielsen
20 Jul 10 at 5:04 am
Bad news on corks is bad news for Portugal which is a leading cork producer.
http://www.uwec.edu/geography/ivogeler/travel/portugal/cork-article2.htm
Portugal is a major cork-grower; in fact, nearly one-third of the total cork oak area, estimated at 2,150,000 hectares (5.3 million acres) is in Portugal, which produces approximately half the cork harvested annually in the world (about 310,000 tons). Cork oak stands extend throughout the country although the intensity of production and quality of the cork vary in the different producing zones. The species, which covers approximately 8 percent of the total area of Portugal and constitutes 28 percent of its forests, grows best in the central and southern parts of the country where the largest stands supplying the greatest percentage of high-grade cork are to be found.
Rafe
20 Jul 10 at 7:48 am
Sure, Rafe, but all they need to do is fix their bloody product. Most wine drinkers do enjoy the experience of pulling a cork out of a good bottle but it’s unreasonable to expect them to accept a 5% defect rate.
Ken Nielsen
20 Jul 10 at 9:07 am
Surely the 5% rate isn’t new?
Sinclair Davidson
20 Jul 10 at 9:22 am
Seems to have applied for 10 years or so, Sinc.
Perhaps producers have been going into different areas or have changed processes. They have denied that there is a problem so it hard been impossible to dig into it.
Ken Nielsen
20 Jul 10 at 9:30 am
Maybe. My prior expectation would be that the defect rate would fall over time ceteris paribus. But the ceteris paribus assumption is quite strong – wine markets have changed very dramatically over time, as have expectations. A 5% defect rate might have been acceptable to the aristocracy who collected wine and viewed managing their collections has a personal challenge.
Sinclair Davidson
20 Jul 10 at 9:36 am