Another "cork" epidemic hits St. Louis!

It's happened before, it will happen again.

Corked wine. As long as wine makers continue to use corks, I guarantee you that there will be corked wine.

It doesn't matter if a bottle is $5 or $500 the risk is always there.

Oh, it's a very small percentage of bottles that end up being corked. Estimates range from 3-5%.

My question is this: why do they always come in bunches?

It's a mystery of wine.

Last week alone we had 3 corked bottles at Balabans. I would say that blows away the percentages.

If you need a refresher on what a corked wine is, it's a flawed wine that is contaminated with the chemical compound TCA. This sucks all the fruit out of the wine, and leaves it smelling like a wet dog, damp cardboard or a moldy basement.

If you want to learn more, just get on the internet - there's a ton of information out there.

If you buy a corked wine at a retail store, and it is a fairly recent purchase, return it to the store. Any reputable wine shop will replace the wine. If you are at a restaurant and order a wine that's corked, by all means, send it back.

If you open a corked wine that's been in your cellar for many years ... well ... not really much you can do. You can either choke it down, or spill it out. 

I hope it's a while before another epidemic hits.

Tom

Yep. That's a corked wine.