Unrealised potential 12 August 2005

Chris Mullineux had an interesting brush with corked wine last weekend

We had dinner at the funky Le Caveau wine bar in Cape Town on Saturday. For anyone living or visiting in the Cape, this is a great new venue combining brilliant food, a hip, cosy atmosphere and perfect service. After browsing through their fun and extensive wine list, we decided on a bottle of Raats Cabernet Franc to accompany the assortment of tapas we’d ordered. Our waiter arrived with the bottle, opened it and poured a tasting sample.

Now, I don’t think many people know the different levels of corked wine, but there are many. In a good example (of badly corked), it will reek of what I can best describe as mould and green banana skins. At the other extreme, wines that are only slightly affected will simply seem quiet, or dead on the nose.

The Cab Franc was quiet … but not off-putting. I okayed it, and it was poured. We then fell into the superb meal.

Sometimes being a winemaker can get in the way of having an enjoyable dinner. We tend to get stuck in work mode, overanalysing what’s in our glass, and forgetting to enjoy it for its quirks, nuances and character. This is something I consciously try to avoid, but this bottle was simply impossible to enjoy. Moving between the interesting tapas dishes, something wasn’t flowing. The food was great, but the wine was just not pleasant. It was dead, lifeless, and interfered with the meal.

What do you do though, when you suspect a problem, but the wine is not obviously faulty? We, being winemakers, knew that the wine was not as it should be, but there was no obvious fault to hang onto. In this situation do you grin and bear it, or do you speak up at the risk of seeming a pompous, unsatisfied know-it-all?

We decided to speak up, and the owner handled what could have been an uncomfortable situation brilliantly. He came over and tasted the wine with us. Though he thought there was no problem, he immediately had another bottle brought to the table, and we tried it together … relief. An altogether different wine – characterful, interesting, and perfectly complementing our meal.

This is the real problem with cork. How many people have similar evenings where a wine does not live up to it’s potential? Research has shown that up to 10% of cork closed wine has a cork related fault. I am very sensitive to it, and can tell you that I certainly don’t find fault in every tenth wine I taste.