As you taste a wine, you realise the wine is corked. Cork taint in wine is a standard fault, often the result of a defect in the bottle or poor storage. Find out why a wine becomes corked and what to do with it.
Why is a wine corked?
Cork taint is one of wine’s faults. First, it’s worth pointing out that any wine can be corked, regardless of its price or reputation. Even when well stored, a wine can have cork taint. In other words, if a wine is corked, it’s in no way your fault.
Generally, this fault comes from a quality issue with the cork. It’s worth noting, though, that the frequency of corked wines is falling sharply. This drop is explained by major progress in cork treatment and by the development of quality control.
How to spot a corked wine?
You’ll spot a corked wine fairly easily. First, the nose of such a wine (and especially the first nose) shows a strong, rather unpleasant smell. You’ll also notice that the wine has less brightness in this case. Finally, on the palate you’ll naturally taste rather off-putting aromas.
A little tip for spotting a corked wine: smell the part of the cork that was in contact with the wine. If it smells musty or mushroomy, the wine is probably corked.
That said, give the wine a second chance! You can start by aerating it in a decanter to let it breathe a little more. If the cork taint persists, you can re-seal the wine and wait 2 to 3 days before trying again. At that point, if the wine still has cork taint, there’s not much left to do. Better to find it a second life. You can always work it into a cooking recipe, for example.
Avoiding corked wine
Many winemakers have fought hard against cork taint. To avoid it, you can let the wine breathe before tasting it. So you can decant it using a carafe. If you don’t plan to keep the wine for many years, you can turn to wines with a metal screw cap or a plastic stopper.
What to do with a corked bottle?
First, if you bought your bottle from a wine merchant, you can take it back to them. They should normally be able to exchange it. If exchanging the wine isn’t possible, you can put the bottle to other uses. You can use it in cooking, especially in recipes like boeuf bourguignon or coq au vin. By using this wine, you’ll give your meat a new flavour and get to enjoy some delicious recipes.
Finally, if you haven’t got that kind of recipe planned, there’s only one solution left: the vinegar pot.
Just getting into tasting wines? Take the chance to fill out some tasting sheets. And good news, we’re giving you one!
