YUK!

My long time friend, Marion who lives in Sydney decided to visit me last night to celebrate her birthday and say goodbye as she was off overseas for a months holiday. Being a celebration I decided to prepare a good meal and open a couple of bottles of special wine rather than serving her a Big Mac and a glass of MacPlonk.

At about 3.30 I opened the wine to give them a chance to open up. First bottle opened was a Jim Barry 1995 The Armagh that went into my ever faithful duck decanter (it doesn’t quack back). The last of the bottle with all the sludge went into an XL5 tasting glass. A short quick sniff and immediately I suspect the law of averages has just caught up with me. The last 18 bottles opened had all been perfect and I had been wondering when the dreaded TCA cork induced plague was going to infect its next victim with a terminal dose of “YUK.” 

The nose of the Armagh wasn’t bad, not as lively as expected and although I thought I may have detected a faint whiff of wet hessian, I was not sure so decided to leave if for a while. The second bottle, a 1997 Henschke Mount Edelstone was also opened.  No doubt about this one, the aroma whilst decanting was bouncing out the bottle and punching its way up my nasal cavities.

About 4.30 Marion arrives and I hand her the glass of The Armagh. “Tell me what you smell MJ.” Marion has no idea what she has been handed and proceeds to describe the aroma. Her description was not exactly flattering, but then it wasn’t insulting either, about what you would expect from a $20 bottle of MacPlonk. (No mention of TCA from her.) “Ok Marion, please taste it.” “YUK!” Was the response. After Marion had been kind enough to play guinea pig I tried it. Another confirmed kill by TCA.

A replacement was required so I opened a storage box with some special bottles it, rummaged around and said, “how much do you love me MJ?” Even though the response was satisfactory, I then asked myself “how much do I love Marion” and having answered that question grabbed the Wynns 1991 John Riddoch rather than the Penfolds 1991 Bin 707.

When the wine was opened and decanted it seemed to be very green and reeked of capsicum. Marion correctly pointed out the wine was 14.7 degrees and would probably get better as it warmed and opened up. So we sat outside on the deck, watched the children chew their weekly bone and the sun going down whilst sipping on the 97 Mt Edelstone. The wine was delightful, smooth tannins, ample weight; a harmonious wine with reasonably complex cherry and mocha flavours with a touch of milk chocolate on the long finish.

The house special “lettuce free crunchy special salad” is prepared, the lamb fillets are in the oven. The cheese plate is coming up to room temperature. All systems go in the food department. We are ready for the red bigot food wine, its time to try the 91 John Riddoch. Well, it’s warmed up but the wine is still loaded with and dominated by green capsicum, in fact the wine has more capsicum taste than the bloody salad. If I had tried the wine blind, I would have sworn it was a 92 Coonawarra, not from the warm 91 vintage. No sign of the warm rich blackcurrant fruit shown in previous bottles. Was the wine off? Did it have any faults? The answer is no, I couldn’t say it was corked, reductive, oxidised or any number of other faults, but the wine was not consistent with others I have had tasted. Indeed, it was very ordinary! It wasn’t “YUK” but it certainly didn’t do the food justice either and it was entirely disappointing.

The sooner the cork industry finds a solution to TCA and other cork induced problems, the better. If they don’t, someone else will. And then it will be the cork industry saying “YUK!”

Cheers

Ric