Does this look corked to you?
Truth be told I've been lucky in the past. The number of bottles I've opened with a bad cork can be counted on one hand. So I was surprised when my Lamereaux Landing Cabernet Franc 2002 had evidence of cork mutiny. The wine didn't seem to make its way out of the other end, but it didn't look normal either. There appeared to be little grains of sand on the inner part of the cork too. Since the wine didn't seem hopelessly spoiled I proceeded with my plan. Home cooked brisket with buttered egg noodles and peas to complement the wine.
Lamoreaux Landing Cabernet Franc 2002
New York, Finger Lakes ($17)
I've had this wine a few times since I first tasted it at Vintage New York. So my expectations were high. Blackberry aromas with a touch of pepper were present along with a muted smokey background. I don't remember it having that smoke to it in the past. It was that stale smoke you smell on your clothes after a night around the bonfire. It could even be mistaken for oak aging, but I do believe it was coming from the cork. The smooth tannins and refreshing medium bodied style of this wine was still showing, but the overall bright fruit and lingering spice of this grape stayed home with a bad case of the cork that was going around. So overall, not bad, but just not what I was counting on. On the bright side it's a good excuse to head over to Vintage New York again for a few tastes.
Is it possible that that "sand" on the cork was just potassium-bitartrate crystals?
I did a post on these a while back...and I see them fairly regularly:
http://lennthompson.typepad.com/lenndevours/2005/03/waitertheres_a_.html
I can't remember for sure, but is this one of the Finger Lakes Regions' un-oaked CFs? They are doing more and more of that these days.
Posted by: Lenn | January 17, 2006 at 08:26 PM
Luckily the bottle I opened last night (Carmenere) had several clear crystals on the cork. The grainy bits on my Cab Franc cork appear to be white as opposed to clear. Some even appear green.
From what I can see on the Lamoreaux website, the 2002 is barrel aged but they have a stainless fermented 2004 available too. I'll have to try that. Thanks for the link to your post, I appreciate the Alton Brown knowledge.
Posted by: WaterintoWino | January 18, 2006 at 08:24 AM
dude, that cork looks f'ing vulgar and disgusting when enlarged, like some kind of diseased organ...
Posted by: corksucker | January 28, 2006 at 06:27 PM
Fast food causes obesity
Posted by: album | September 30, 2007 at 11:16 AM
The change of our climate is, is not natural
Posted by: Steve | October 01, 2007 at 11:23 AM