How to detect a corked wine?
How do you know if a wine is corked? Among the defects of a wine, the taste of cork is undoubtedly one of the easiest to detect. Here's how.
What is a corked wine?
It is a wine that has been parasitized by a molecule of chlorine; TCA, which is present in cork or in certain woody materials in contact with wine. This molecule then gives a taste of moldy wood to the liquid contained in the bottle.
The quality of the stopper is generally in question, and for example the cork stopper is a porous element. Too much humidity in a cellar, a mushroom smell can easily infiltrate and alter the taste of the wine.
And, in general, you have to be careful of the volatile odors of paint or exhaust gases to which the wine is sensitive.
The cork: a piece of evidence
The cork is, quite naturally, a good clue to identify if the wine potentially has faults. When it breaks when you open the bottle, it's a bad sign. This indicates that there was probably a storage problem in the cellar with a lack of humidity. If the wine has flowed and the cork is heavily impregnated, it risks being oxidized. This may be due to heatstroke.
Whatever its appearance, it is recommended to smell the cork once extracted from the bottle. When it is made of cork, it must diffuse a pleasant smell of wood. If the cork evokes humidity, the cellar or cardboard, there is a good chance that the wine is altered. And when it comes to a PVC, glass or screw cap, is the wine protected? Its degradation is possible, but not for the same reasons.
From the nose to the palate: the taste of cork
The first nose of the wine is a key indicator of its faults. Does it have a pleasant smell? If the wine smells musty, the answer will necessarily be negative. The mouth then confirms this first impression. If the wine is indeed corky, it will be destructured with a pronounced acidity, a very short mouthfeel and a very unpleasant aftertaste. When the cork is infected, it contaminates the wine and robs it of all its aromatic complexity. If in doubt, simply leave the wine in contact with air, which will fully reveal the defect. As the quality of cork stoppers has continued to grow in recent years and winegrowers have invested more in quality materials: There are fewer and fewer corked wines but some cuvées are altered with cardboard smells, damp cellars often due to a contaminated storage area.
Whenever possible, especially for special occasions such as the end of year celebrations, remember to always have at least two identical bottles in order to offer an alternative to your guests in case of corked wine.
