corked

'There has always been a problem with corked wine and over the years different methods have been used - every- thing from radiation to sterilisation.

In some parts of the world plastic corks have caused uproar amongst wine lovers but it means no more corked wine.

You know what I say to them when they start going on about how wine needs to be naturally corked to develop the proper bouquet?

British supermarket chain Tesco found one in 12 bottles of wine it sold was corked and now uses other types of seals for one quarter of all the wine it sells.

"We pulled a really corked cork, it stank of TCA to the high heavens, in front of literally dozens of people," recalled associate winemaker Christiane Schleussner.

Something up to five per cent of bottles are "corked" - badly affected by a chemical reaction related to the cork itself.

'Waiter, this wine is corked; please take it away,' he declares.

If we find more than 2% "off" or "corked" glasses, then we reject the lot.

t's one of those rare things in the wine business that's regarded by everyone from winemakers and sommeliers to consumers with the same mix of disappointment, annoyance and even embarrassment: the eagerly anticipated bottle that ends up corked. "Obviously you know every time you open a bottle and you get that corked, musty smell, and your wine is ruined.

At my company Riverside International, some 20,000 bottles were opened during the past decade, and we calculated that 3% were corked.

Few moments are more embarrassing than opening a bottle of wine for guests or customers and finding that it's corked. The problem is only compounded when a winemaker is opening a 12-liter bottle in front of a large audience with glasses outstretched.