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Can you smell dryness on a cork?

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Jenise

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Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Jenise » Wed Dec 12, 2018 6:13 pm

A friend claims you can. He conveyed this to me in an email extolling the prowess of his wine-inexperienced young girlfriend's pronouncement of same after smelling a cork, a situation he said was then confirmed in the wine they drank. She had never drunk wine before meeting him a few months ago.

I tut-tutted in response saying you can't smell dryness on a cork, it's a flavor in the absence of fruit, and even a sensation if the wine's astringent, but wine corks smell like wine. And some smell older.

Who's right?
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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James Roscoe

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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by James Roscoe » Wed Dec 12, 2018 8:05 pm

I'm on your side Jenise, but I can't point to any studies. It is pretty well accepted in the numerous books I have read about wine that smelling the cork at a restaurant does nothing. I like to think we are correct.
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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by David M. Bueker » Wed Dec 12, 2018 8:08 pm

Your friend is a crackpot. Does he also deny climate science? The moon landing? Is he friends with Steph Curry?
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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Bob Parsons Alberta » Wed Dec 12, 2018 9:26 pm

Bunch of baloney.
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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Mark S » Thu Dec 13, 2018 10:01 am

I would tend to say that cork in general smells dry, primarily because it is. This can be tested by chewing on said bark. Yep, dry as nails. :lol:
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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Robin Garr » Thu Dec 13, 2018 12:23 pm

Jenise wrote:young girlfriend

:twisted:
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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Dale Williams » Thu Dec 13, 2018 1:24 pm

piling on, dryness is a palate factor, and would be hard to judge smelling the actual wine, much less the cork.
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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Paul Winalski » Thu Dec 13, 2018 1:31 pm

James Roscoe wrote:It is pretty well accepted in the numerous books I have read about wine that smelling the cork at a restaurant does nothing.


My understanding of restaurant wine protocol is this: The bottle is first presented to the host of the party (person who placed the order) to verify that it is the wine that was intended to be ordered. The bottle is then uncorked and the cork is presented to the host, so that the host can verify that the seal was intact and can read any imprint on the cork, as a way to prevent wine fraud. A small pour is then offered for the host to try, so that if the wine is bad the other guests are not offended by it. If the host approves, full pours are offered to all the guests.

Smelling the cork is not part of the protocol and doesn't accomplish anything--the initial taste by the host verifies the integrity of the wine. I love the lampoon of the wine protocol in The Muppet Movie, where sommelier Steve Martin asks Kermit the Frog if he wants to smell the bottle cap.

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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Steve Slatcher » Fri Dec 14, 2018 5:32 am

I often smell corks immediately after I have pulled them. Mainly because they give me the first hint of the wine inside. Often they just smell vaguely cork-like or neutral, but can give a foretaste of older wines that have soaked into the cork.

Also in my experience, if a wine is corked, that will nearly always be detectable on the cork too (and vice versa), which to me is hardly surprising. It is of course the flavour of the wine that is important, but if the cork smells bad it alerts me to be especially vigilant when testing the wine, where it might not be so obvious.

I had always assumed somms smell corks to check for TCA, and find the research showing that this is pointless rather baffling. Perhaps it depends on the nose of the sniffer? Regardless, I see no excuse for the cork-sniffing to be done theatrically.

As for determining whether a wine is dry or sweet by sniffing the cork, I am sceptical. There are different definitions for sweetness levels anyway, and I wonder exactly what is being claimed to be detected. Or perhaps it is just the smell of corks for particular well-known brands?
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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Tim York » Fri Dec 14, 2018 5:46 am

Steve Slatcher wrote:I often smell corks immediately after I have pulled them. Mainly because they give me the first hint of the wine inside. Often they just smell vaguely cork-like or neutral, but can give a foretaste of older wines that have soaked into the cork.

Also in my experience, if a wine is corked, that will nearly always be detectable on the cork too (and vice versa), which to me is hardly surprising. It is of course the flavour of the wine that is important, but if the cork smells bad it alerts me to be especially vigilant when testing the wine, where it might not be so obvious.

I had always assumed somms smell corks to check for TCA, and find the research showing that this is pointless rather baffling. Perhaps it depends on the nose of the sniffer? Regardless, I see no excuse for the cork-sniffing to be done theatrically.

As for determining whether a wine is dry or sweet by sniffing the cork, I am sceptical. There are different definitions for sweetness levels anyway, and I wonder exactly what is being claimed to be detected. Or perhaps it is just the smell of corks for particular well-known brands?


I was about to write something similar myself.
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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Peter May » Fri Dec 14, 2018 1:47 pm

Steve Slatcher wrote:
I had always assumed somms smell corks to check for TCA,


I see it as browbeating the customer, daring them to raise an objection. They smelt the cork, if there was anything wrong then they wouldn't have poured the customer a taste!

A faulty or corked wine might be detected by sniffing the cork, but not all corked wines, as anyone can prove next time they are unfortunate to open a corked or faulty wine.

As usual, Steve's said it all
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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Victorwine » Sat Dec 15, 2018 7:09 am

Ditto to what was already stated, but I would add do not confuse dryness with lack of fruit.
Drinking a fruity dry red wine one might experience a "cleansing" or "dryness" sensation in the
mouth. Drinking a fruity dry white wine one might experience a "watering" sensation in the mouth.

Salute
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Jenise

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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Jenise » Sat Dec 15, 2018 2:32 pm

Victorwine wrote:Ditto to what was already stated, but I would add do not confuse dryness with lack of fruit.
Drinking a fruity dry red wine one might experience a "cleansing" or "dryness" sensation in the
mouth. Drinking a fruity dry white wine one might experience a "watering" sensation in the mouth.

Salute


Victor, no disagreement. It's just that in the instance of said friend, he (and therefore she) drink exclusively red Bordeaux and domestic pinot noir, so only dry red wines were being addressed. The wine that he claimed she noted dryness on the cork was a 2000 vintage St. Julien.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: Can you smell dryness on a cork?

by Jenise » Sat Dec 15, 2018 2:34 pm

Steve Slatcher wrote:I often smell corks immediately after I have pulled them. Mainly because they give me the first hint of the wine inside. Often they just smell vaguely cork-like or neutral, but can give a foretaste of older wines that have soaked into the cork.


I only bother smelling older wine corks that have saturated a bit--I just love the smell. I expect to judge the wine by what's in the glass.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

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