Why NOT TO Smell Your Cork

When we go to a nice restaurant, the waiter will bring out the bottle of wine you ordered. They open it in front of you, pour it, and then they take the cork and put it in front of you on the table. Then that awkward moment arrives.... "What the heck do I do with the cork?"

The myth is that everyone thinks you need to smell the cork. Ummmm what does smelling the cork tell you? What does it smell like? (Cork Duh!?) Why would you smell a cork to see if you wine was ok? The wine does not have cork in it - so the wine on the cork will NOT smell like the wine in the bottle! *Mind Blown Right?*

THE CORK TELLS YOU ALMOST NOTHING ABOUT HOW THE WINE IS GOING TO TASTE!

What you NEED to do with that cork is pick it up and look at it. By looking at the cork, you will be able to tell if the wine has been stored and/ or produced properly.

The cork below shows what a cork should look like. Notice that the wine is around the bottom of the cork and the sides of the cork are clean with little or no wine.

The cork below shows that there might have been an air leak with the wine or bottled/stored improperly. Noticed that the wine has run partly up the side of the cork. This bottle might need further investigation. If you have had this wine before, pick up the glass and taste it. If you have NOT had this bottle of wine before, please point the cork out to the wait staff and send it back. You do not want to chance that it was been altered!

The cork below is a wine you definitely want to send back! Notice that the wine has run all the way to the top. This means that the wine got hot for a little bit (not stored properly) and will be considered a "cooked wine." Will drinking a cooked wine hurt you? No! But if you are paying for a bottle of wine - you should get a good quality product! Not one that has been stored improperly. A cooked wine will not display the full taste profile that the wine maker intended it to have.

There you go! Now spread the word! Next time you are in a restaurant, DO NOT let the table next to you smell the cork! Teach them to look at the cork instead!

As always, I hope you found value and I would love to hear you feedback, stories, or questions that deal with this subject. You can always find me directly at www.winwithwine.biz

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CHEERS!

How to tell Crap Wine from Good Wine!

Awww! A very important question! How do YOU tell crap wine from gooooood wine!?! It is actually fairly easy - but before we get to the exact science, lets talk a little about wine.

Not all wines are created equal. I am sorry - but they just are not! Many manufacturers of wine take short cuts in order to produce more wine faster! (They produce wine for profit, not for passion.) Now does that mean they are not tasty? Nope - they can be tasty! THAT is part of the problem! Chances are if you have indulged in large production wines, you enjoy them but had no idea what the difference was between that $6 bottle of Shiraz versus that $20 bottle. You were purchasing based on price rather than value. Let me share a little bit about big production wineries. Take that $6 bottle of Shiraz. It tastes like it has been aged in oak. It is simple and gets the job done, but with what consequences? Red wine headache? Maybe a rash? Horrible hang over? You probably always assumed these are the results of just drinking wine. WRONG.... this is the result of poor quality wine! Large wine producers only care about profit. Instead of aging the bottle of Shiraz to the proper time in an oak barrow, they instead added a powder to it that makes it taste like it has been aged in oak! WHAT? Yup! And if they did that to create a faux flavor profile, what else have they added to that wine too? YUCK!

Quality wine producers allow their wines the time and natural processes they need. Why? Because they are producing wine for the art of it, not the profit of it.

So how can you tell if your wine is of quality? Price? (Nope - not always an indicator but it is a step in the right direction.) Ready?  It is the length of the aftertaste.  The quality in all wines is based upon the length of the aftertaste. Huh? Really? What does this mean?

Grab a glass of wine and let's experiment! (Yay! A science experiment for adults!) Hold a sip of wine in your mouth for several seconds. ( I know this will be hard for some of you- bear with me!) Once the wine is in your mouth for several seconds you will experience 3 waves of flavors:
Attack - In the foretaste the wine is announcing itself to you. Here you will experience the fruity and sweet flavors that the wine might have.
Evolution - Next acidity amplifies the flavors in the attack.
Finish - Finally the flavors begin to fade away. The length of the finish will determine the quality in the wine. The longer the aftertaste, the better the wine!

Your Homework: So I want you to go to the store, buy 1 mass produced bottle of wine of a certain varietal and then buy 1 bottle of wine that is made by a small winery or estate that is the same varietal. Go home and pour out 2 glasses of wine. Take a sip of the mass produced wine and hold it in your mouth and see if you can determine the 3 waves of flavors. Count how many seconds it takes for the aftertaste to finally fade away. Now do the same with the other wine. What did you notice? Since they are the same varietal you should taste similar tones but you will notice that the quality wine lasted much longer AND the flavor intensity is more pronounced!

Now like I said before: In no way, shape or form am I saying mass produced wines are horrible. That is simply not true and should be considered an opinion and not a fact. Consider them as the "McDonald's" of wines. While we all love a good McDonald's burger from time to time, we just simply know not to have high expectations for that burger. We know quality and time was not put into that burger when it was made - no matter how much you are 'just lovin in'. Now think about when you go to a fine steak house. You know that steak you ordered has been delicately prepared by a chef and personally cooked and prepared for you. Time and quality was put into that steak. You can consider smaller production wine companies and estates to be the "steakhouse."  Now when you look at wines with this analogy, you will have a better understanding of quality of wines!

As always, I hope you found value and I would love to hear you feedback, stories, or questions that deal with this subject. You can always find me directly at www.winwithwine.biz

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