Can wine in a screw topped bottle be "corked"?

A

anastasiablu

Registered User
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31
Been in a restaurant in Dublin and Uk where wine was just poured without offer to taste. Can it be corked/gone off??
 
Not corked , because that's caused by the wood in the cork.

But could be "gone off" the other reasons.
 
Not literally corked, but it can certainly be off -- for example, if the bottle was not sterile when it was filled.

You should always be offered the opportunity to taste the wine.
 
Corked means that the cork was flawed and air got in.
It is much rarer for this to happen with screw tops but it must happen occasionally that the top is flawed in some way and lets air in.

Tasting the wine is irrelevent, if a wine is gone off, you can send it back, whether you tasted it or not. Corked wine can be OK for the first sip and then quickly oxidise and taste foul 10 minutes later.
 
agree with above. Wine cant be 'corked' without a cork. It can however be off as people above said.

That aside, it is generally good manners to be offered the opportunity to taste the wine, especially if you bought a bottle. However if you bought only a glass most places do not give you a taste (unless it is a fresh bottle just opened) as it is usually house wine and they will have a bottle open already that someone else would have had a glass from
 
huskerdu said:
Corked means that the cork was flawed and air got in.
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The term corked wine refers to wine which has been affected by the presence of the chemical TCA which is produced by a fungus which infects cork. It's not due to exposure to air. You can tell by the musty or mouldy smell, to taste it will lack fruit and can be bitter depending on the degree of taint. An oxidised wine will rendner the taste of a wine fruitless, but will not bring the fungal smell.

Exposure to TCA can also occur in the barrel, so can affect wines closed by means other than cork. This is much rarer though.

Most likely scenario here would be poor storage conditions. Wine ideally should be stored at a constant cool temperature and be protected from vibrations and shocks as well as sunlight. Maybe you could suggest the restaurant invest in a fine EuroCave system?
Leo
 
Just as a caveat:

Wine would always be poured straight out to glass in any worthwhile 5 star restaurant.They would never allow a corked wine near a table as it would automatically have been 'tasted' by a resident taster upon opening..
 
Maybe I don't eat in the very finest restaurants (although I have on occasion paid prices that suggested high standards): I have never had a sommelier taste the wine for me. On occasion, I have seem a sommelier sniff the cork.
 
While we are on the subject of wine can anyone tell me how long a screwtop bottle of wine last when opened and refridgerated. thanks.
 
bren1916 said:
Just as a caveat:

Wine would always be poured straight out to glass in any worthwhile 5 star restaurant.They would never allow a corked wine near a table as it would automatically have been 'tasted' by a resident taster upon opening..
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That's not true. All sommeliers should allow the customer to taste the wine (and provide the cork for inspection but I think that is going too far). I would also be insulted if the sommlier turned up at my table with an expensive bottle of wine already opened and he just poured it straight out or if he had tasted it.

I have seen people who were not sure if a wine was corked or not ask the sommerlier for their opinion. That's what they are there for.

I think I have a strong pallet because I think I have only ever had one bottle of corked wine. Even then, I didn't think it was that bad until the rest of the table nearly puked! It's why I stick to beer!
 
Agreed.


Sunny said:
I think I have a strong pallet because I think I have only ever had one bottle of corked wine. Even then, I didn't think it was that bad until the rest of the table nearly puked! It's why I stick to beer!
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It is very rare to find a corked bottle. Not liking a wine is no reason to send it back, there has to be something actually wrong with it.
 
Padraigb said:
Maybe I don't eat in the very finest restaurants (although I have on occasion paid prices that suggested high standards): I have never had a sommelier taste the wine for me. On occasion, I have seem a sommelier sniff the cork.
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Just out of curiosity, is it necessary to italicise the word "sommelier" - sorry... "sommelier".
 
I prefer to italicise it because I consider it to be a French word that we use in English, and I go with the convention that we italicise foreign words. I don't think sommelier has received its naturalisation papers yet.

There is possibly room for argument about it, but be warned: I have a glass of wine (un verre de vin) beside the keyboard (clavier), and that might make me argumentative.
 
What is the story with payment if you do send it back? Is it on the restaurant or do you have to pay anything? I have a few people about this in the past and both have given me different answers.
 

All of them? No. Most of them? No. Alot of them? Yes. One of the perks of my industry is that client entertainment plays a large part. Or used to until the financial crisis hit.

And I have never seen a sommelier or any waiter taste wine before giving it to a customer. That's just rude.

It's not just my opinion. Show me where one of the duties of the sommilier is to taste the wine before serving it to the customer. What restaurant were you in that did that? I can list plenty that didn't.
 
I was in Chapter One a couple of weeks ago and the sommelier did not taste the wine. He recommended a particular one alright but left the tasting to the customer.
 
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