Roy Hersh wrote:I'd hate to list all of the corked Ports I've had over the years, white/Ruby/LBV/VP/even a bad bottle of 1952 Dalva a few months ago. Too many to list, that's for sure. However, only within the past year, after several hundred bottles of Madeira, did I finally come across ONE with TCA. Remarkable!
Remarkable indeed, and it also begs the question "why?"
Are the corks used for Madeira sourced from different trees? Are the corks processed in a different way? Or does the wine-making process make port more vulnerable to contamination?
The assumption is made that a small percentage of corks carry a natural contaminant that spoils the wine; and that short of using screwcaps or coated corks, there's nothing that can be done.
However, if some wines have a much lower propensity for being corked than others, it would suggest that there are some preventative lessons to be learned..
Tom
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
I'd hate to list all of the corked Ports I've had over the years, white/Ruby/LBV/VP/even a bad bottle of 1952 Dalva a few months ago. Too many to list, that's for sure. However, only within the past year, after several hundred bottles of Madeira, did I finally come across ONE with TCA. Remarkable!
Remarkable indeed, and it also begs the question "why?"
Are the corks used for Madeira sourced from different trees? Are the corks processed in a different way? Or does the wine-making process make port more vulnerable to contamination?
The assumption is made that a small percentage of corks carry a natural contaminant that spoils the wine; and that short of using screwcaps or coated corks, there's nothing that can be done.
However, if some wines have a much lower propensity for being corked than others, it would suggest that there are some preventative lessons to be learned..
Tom
Tom,
You raise a very good question...why does Madeira seem to be so very rarely affected by TCA? I would love to hear peoples thoughts on why this is, as it's something I've thought.
(Mod's, may be best to split this into it's own topic)
Are the corks used for Madeira sourced from different trees? Are the corks processed in a different way? Or does the wine-making process make port more vulnerable to contamination?
Since Portugal is the main global producer and exporter of corks (which I think come from the Algarve) I would have thought the first two factors would not exist unless there is a smaller industry on Madeira itself. I wonder if it could be that the Madeira producers are more careful than the Port shippers. I did read an article by a Spanish wine producer who said that they had enormously reduced the incidence of contamination by checking each cork (for what I don't know) and being extremely selective about which corks they used.
I think this must be something to do with the state of the wine at the point it is bottled. The incidence of corked Port in categories other than VP is also extremely low. With very few exceptions, VP is the only category that is bottled whithout being filtered/fined/stabilised. It is still "alive" when the cork is driven into the bottle and is therefore more reactive than other types of Port. I know very little about Madeira but it quite obviously is very much more mature and stabe than VP is when it is bottled. This could quite easily explain why VP seems to suffer from TCA taint whilst other styles of Port and Madeira do not, simply because the active processes that cause the wine to evolve have either slowed down or stopped altogether.
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
I think this must be something to do with the state of the wine at the point it is bottled. The incidence of corked Port in categories other than VP is also extremely low. With very few exceptions, VP is the only category that is bottled whithout being filtered/fined/stabilised. It is still "alive" when the cork is driven into the bottle and is therefore more reactive than other types of Port. I know very little about Madeira but it quite obviously is very much more mature and stabe than VP is when it is bottled. This could quite easily explain why VP seems to suffer from TCA taint whilst other styles of Port and Madeira do not, simply because the active processes that cause the wine to evolve have either slowed down or stopped altogether.
If this is the reason, then it would suggest that VP bottles might be better kept upright for a year or two after bottling, before being laid down..
..I wonder if this is worth a trial..?
Tom
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
I think this must be something to do with the state of the wine at the point it is bottled. The incidence of corked Port in categories other than VP is also extremely low. With very few exceptions, VP is the only category that is bottled whithout being filtered/fined/stabilised. It is still "alive" when the cork is driven into the bottle and is therefore more reactive than other types of Port. I know very little about Madeira but it quite obviously is very much more mature and stabe than VP is when it is bottled. This could quite easily explain why VP seems to suffer from TCA taint whilst other styles of Port and Madeira do not, simply because the active processes that cause the wine to evolve have either slowed down or stopped altogether.
If this is the reason, then it would suggest that VP bottles might be better kept upright for a year or two after bottling, before being laid down..
..I wonder if this is worth a trial..?
Tom
Certainly worth a trial but I'm not sure how you would go abot selecting a big enough control sample?
Also worth bearing in mind that even after two years (or ten, twenty...one hundred) the VP in the bottle will still not have been filtered or fined and will continue to evolve in a way that other styles do not.
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
I may have a simple answer to this question...I happened to be talking to someone yesterday who turned out to be a Maderian Customs Officer. I remebered this topic and asked her about the importation of items such as Cork from Portugal and she simply explained that any natural raw products such as timber and cork are 'irradiated' on arrival in order to ensure the island is kept free of bugs or fungus that could possibly damage their fragile flora and fauna.
Of course this would possibly explain why no TCA has affected Maderia over the last 40+ years but what about before then?
Maybe there are some affected bottles from very old vintages but this gets confused with what the wine should taste like against its age.
I hope this may shed some light on the topic for you guys.
Irradiation is not new to corks and has been around for years. Regardless of that process, TCA taint can and does occur. Can it minimize the effect, yes ... but eradicate it ... definitely not. I've been to cork producers in several countries, spent a lot of time in South Africa when studying TCA there at their cork factories. Every cork is irradiated there by the largest producer, yet they said that 2-3% of their corks still wound up in bottles that supposedly were affected by TCA.
I don't know about others, but I have seen plenty of LBV and entry level (Ruby and especially what is now called Ruby Reserve ... but back when it was Vintage Character category ... I had my share of TCA in those as well as Colheita and Tawny too and certainly it is no stranger to VP.
The cork forests are from the Alentejo area, within an hour of Portugal's capital city (Lisboa) and some of it spills down to the Algarve too, but the majority is centered around Évora and the Alentejo region.
The Port producers are actually VERY careful and pay a ton more for their corks than the crappy short stoppers that are used for Madeira; especially VP corks. So it is definitely not the natural product or anything that is "grown" on Madeira. I am sorry to say that the maturity and stabilization of Madeira is also not a factor with TCA.
So what is the explanation? One slim possibility is that often times Madeira is NOT laid down in the cellar like Port. It often stands up in collector's cellars and there is less leakage than with Port because corks don't fail, even though not kept moist. This is because the lack of contact just might play a factor. I've heard that explanation and although it is not really that likely ... is probably the closest one that I've ever heard that makes sense. Many Madeira collectors stand their bottles up in cellar rather than laying them down and if the wine doesn't touch the cork, it can't become infected with TCA unless it is from TCA that occurs within the winery and not the cork ... which is rare, but does happen (2001 Hanzell, Gallo had this episode too in the 1990s and others as well, typically from using Chlorine to sanitize equipment, although there are other causes too).
I don't know that anyone can explain this phenomenon, but I know that although I've had about 1500 bottles in my life, only 1 Madeira was corked. I've asked Ricardo Freitas a couple of months ago about the incidence he's experienced with TCA in bottles (owner/winemaker of Barbeito) and he said, "yes, but very few times in my life." Mannie Berk mentioned he could not remember the last time he had had a corked Madeira (until one night this year where we both had one together) and he is the single biggest Madeira aficionado in the USA and the largest importer/distributor too. So, this is a very odd occurence with seemingly no great explanation. Whether it is the vertical inclination of the bottles of Madeira, or something more plausible, this is not one easily explained ... that is for sure.
