Text 24686, 107 rader
Skriven 2007-12-23 02:28:11 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Michael Loo
Ärende: WINE CHOICES? 493 21222
===============================
 -=> Quoting Michael Loo to Glen Jamieson <=-

 ML> Jeff got this funny look on his face
 ML> and retrieved a minibottle of Mateus from his wine closet. Apparently
 ML> it had been a gift - probably in a hotel welcome basket - and he had
 ML> kept it for some years just for the hoot value, for which it earned
 ML> its keep yet again on that occasion.
 GJ> Having hooted, did you dare to drink it, or did he return it to its
 GJ> closet for future hoots?  (A closet Mateus hoarder!  Hmmm.)
 ML> It was left untouched to be marveled at by future generations.

Probably the best response.  Mine is still untouched.
 
 GJ> According to wine writer and taster, Philip White, one in twenty of
 GJ> the wines put up for judging has a faulty cork or cork taint, and a
 GJ> replacement has had to be requested.

 ML> A somewhat smaller but distinctly nonzero percentage of screwtop
 ML> wines has what has come to be known as cork taint, which would
 ML> lead one to believe that there are other mechanisms for TCA
 ML> generation, perhaps related to imperfect bottle washing?

I have tasted quite a few screwtops, and have not noticed any defects.
It is possible that inferior standards of closures or bottling hygiene
in USA may have resulted in the defects that you have noticed.
Australian wines are normally filled into brand new bottles.

 ML> According to wine bibber Glen
 GJ> Jamieson, 100 bottles out of 100 white wines, and at least 50 out of
 GJ> 100 red wines with corked bottles which had been stored for a period
 GJ> in the tropical sun with the corks pointing upwards, had been converted
 GJ> to vinegar or rust deposits by the time they arrived at the table.  All

 ML> That's not the same.

Different from TCA, but still a cause of defective bottles of wine.
After all, that is what matters - at least to me, when tropical.
 
 GJ> wine transported and stored in screwtop bottles or flagons or in
 GJ> bladders, remained in pristine condition.

 ML> I have my doubts! Bag-in-box wines have a finite shelf-life as well.
 ML> Wine changes with time; you can delay the change but not stop it.
 ML> This fact gives much hope to those of us who like aged wines.

I have wondered about that.  I can see I will have to try keeping some
good screwtopped wines for another 10 years or so, and try them then.
 
 GJ> Regarding the economics, I doubt if there would be any advantage of
 GJ> that nature in a screwtop.

 ML> There's a certain advantage, but that's not what Marco was referring
 ML> to. Marco referred to a conscious effort by (especially European)
 ML> bottlers to try to squeeze the cork producers by threatening to
 ML> refrain from using their product.

Sadly, it looks as if the days of the poor Portugese cork producers are
numbered.  Looking through today's top 20 wines listed by Philip White,
the only corker was a German wine.

 ML> The $3.99 a bottle fizzy still comes in
 GJ> bottle with a wired-down cork, while the $30 a bottle whites all now
 GJ> have screwtops.  If you had deigned to cast your eyes over any of the
 GJ> Kiwi Sav Blancs you would have noticed they were all screwed.

 ML> No, they were all peed in. At the Koru lounges there was a goodly
 ML> assortment of Sauv Blancs, and I refrained from trying any of them.

Sad, sad.  Pre-judgement is a sin!

 ML> Aside from a half bottle of Pouilly Fume, I had no SB on the trip.

You should have been more daring.  What about the beers?  Did you try
any of the local brew?
 
 GJ> The cheap fizzy there still uses corks.

 ML> That's a p.r. thing, with "popping corks" associated with grand luxe
 ML> and festivity. Packaging adds more to the price of a cheap wine than
 ML> any other step in production, including production of the wine itself.

For a while cheap fizzies here were given a plastic "cork", which
popped satisfactorily, but it didn't last.
 
 ML> I know a potential way of getting rid of it, although the donee
 ML> would berate you loudly as he disposed of the evidence.
 GJ> Even that didn't work.  All I got from my invitation was abuse and
 GJ> ridicule for being so stupid.

 ML> You didn't pursue the obvious experiment, which is to bring the
 ML> stuff to Torrensville.

Something about Mahomet and the mountain....

 ML> I have, in fact, experimented with it,
 GJ> and found it is sort of drinkable if it is freezing cold, and
 GJ> accompanying a dish like a rendang with rice into which plenty of
 GJ> Indonesian sambal pemuda extra hot has been stirred.

 ML> Avoid the middleman and just stir the sambal into the beverage.

I did think of stirring some of the 76% alcohol "rum flavouring" into
it, but decided that was too dangerous.  Anyway, I have now finished it.
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

--- FLAME v2.0/b
 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)