Originally Posted by
BiziBB
Noticing the OP is based in the UK, I'd be interested to know if your experience in these 'taste check' servings is primarily of wines of a certain country and if they are mainly red wines with corks - and the age of the vintages that you buy.
I ask because an interesting cultural difference is the tradition and prevalence of cork these days. In Australia/New Zealand, the Stelvin alumin(i)um closure has been tested, provben and used for at least five years, initially on whites and now almost always on all but the top reds, too, in order to eliminate almost all the spoilage previously attributed to corks.
Many red wines exported from down under are sold under cork (to US/UK/Ireland etc) even though they are much more popular now in their home markets under a twist cap!
My other point is that now that the cork is history (for us anyway, 80% of the time), we still have the taste test tradition, to ensure that the buyer/tryer is happy with the condition of the bottle of wine (as opposed to just liking the taste).
We're still enjoying some Hunter shiraz from 2002, still under cork.
So far, bottles from this case of wine has been OK, but one other red also from 2002 had a tainted cork on one we opened on NY Day.
You probably won't agree with this but the wine stopper is the perfect example of why most wine is aimed at snobs and show-offs.
Plastic stoppers and screw-caps have been the simple answer to corked wine for years yet many " traditional " wine makers won't introduce them because they spoil the aesthetics of a wine waiter opening a bottle with a great flourish and presenting the cork to be sniffed.
The result is bad wine being drunk by restaurant customers too over-awed to send it back.
It's not about the wine it's all about the hoopla.
I remember being in a restaurant once in Soho in London at a table next to a pompous Englishman who was loudly trying to impress a sophisticated French woman with his knowledge and choice of wine.
The waiter opened the bottle but before he could pour some the man told him rather bluntly " Let it breathe for a while before you pour it. "
The woman looked at him with barely-concealed contempt and said " You know, it can breathe in the glass as well as the bottle. "
Collapse of stout party.Diners all around cheered inwardly and smiled at the waiter.
It made our dinner.