Corked!

I had my first experience with a corked wine at a restaurant Friday night. A group of us went to one of my very favorite restaurants here in Louisville, (Jack Fry's - if you come here from out of town you should definately go there) for dinner. Knowing what I know (not much but something) I was put in charge of ordering the wine for the group. That part was pretty easy in that no one in the group was too particular, and I wanted to keep the choices in the lower part of the price range. I picked a 2004 Zolo Cab as the red, and a Gruner Verltlinger (I can't exactly remember the label - it started with an H but was not Hofer). There were more red drinkers at the table than white drinkers, so I switched to white myself and ordered food accordingly. When the Zolo was finished my wife Meg suggested a bottle of Pinot Noir so I chose a 2005 Michel-Andreotti from Bourgongne. When they brought the wine to the table for tasting I had my mouth full of the GV so I told them to let Meg taste it. She nodded approval but then said to me "I think it's OK but I got a lot of cork off the nose." I smelled and tasted it immediately myself, my curiosity piqued. Yes, cork. It seemed not to have what is normally described as "a smell like wet newspapers or a dank cellar," but more just plain cork. We called the waitress over and she was soon followed by a male who seemed to be the somelier, or perhaps the bartender. "I understand you are unhappy with the wine sir, would like to choose something else?" "No, I want another bottle of the same wine. I think that one is corked". I wanted to be clear it wasn't just that I didn't like the wine, but that it was in fact a faulty bottle. The staff handled it really well - our waitress brought me a sample from an opened bottle saying "this is what it should taste like" and indeed it was a totally different wine. Then she brought us a fresh bottle, opened it, and made sure it was to our liking. It was. Not a great wine, but quite serviceable. All in all a very interesting wine experience for me, and I will confess it did tickle my ego a bit.

Good catch, Bob. For full effect you should have spit the offensive wine out all over the floor and screamed for the wine steward. Maybe next time.

I have only been served a spoiled wine in a restaurant on one occasion. Oddly enough it was at an Olive Garden. The Olive Garden isn't exactly on the cutting edge of the wine world, but they handled it very well. The wine was replace and comped, and the manager also had his entire staff smell and taste it so they would be able to identify a bad wine in the future. Glad to hear the your situation was handled appropriately.

[David M. Bueker]

Could the Grüner Veltliner have been Huber?

Could the Grüner Veltliner have been Huber?

Good guess, as price point is similar to Hofer. But Hirsch, Hirtzberger, and Hogl also spring to mind.

Sometimes it's easy to reject a corked wine, when the dank cardboard assaults. Its harder when something dances on edge of perception. One night at Blue Hill at Stone Barns I had a half-bottle of Savigny presented. It was a Tues, and the main sommelier was off, a young assistant brought the wine. I sniffed- uh oh- then sniffed again. I was on the fence, and told him that I thought I got some TCA first whiff, then not on second. He said "you know, I thought I did at first too, then convinced myself it was just bottle funk.- will be right back." Second bottle was totally different- no must, really nice wine. I can't blame the sommelier for the first bottle, we've all had those "is this right?" moments.

[Robin Garr]

one of my very favorite restaurants here in Louisville, (Jack Fry's -

Hey, Bob, great call! One of my favorites, too.

You being a fellow denizen of the Derby City, are you also signed on at the LouisvilleHotBytes restaurants forum? If not, we'd make you kindly welcome. Same software as here, same servers, but you do have to register separately.

Could the Grüner Veltliner have been Huber?

I'm embarrassed I didn't remember the label. It was largely white with gold letters and a gold crown I think. I chose it because I think GV is such a wonderfully likeable wine, though I found this one a tad light. Still, it had a lovely fizzy zing to it and paired nicely with the lobster crab cakes, and the chicken dish I was eating.

You being a fellow denizen of the Derby City, are you also signed on at the LouisvilleHotBytes restaurants forum?

What, you think I have nothing better to do than spend my whole life in front of a computer thinking about food and wine? Actually, I have visited that site but don't believe I have registered yet. Thanks for the reminder.

[Robin Garr]

What, you think I have nothing better to do than spend my whole life in front of a computer thinking about food and wine?

I keep forgetting that for most of you guys it's not your day job.

I keep forgetting that for most of you guys it's not your day job.

WRONG.
Some guys are on here so much it is hard to believe they actually have a day job.
BP

You know what Bill, I wonder about that!! As you say, some seem to be here all day. Wonder if we could do a thread and get forumites to list their occupations whatever. David B really intrigues me! Guess he is retired!!! Me, I am just retarded.