Help for Corked Wine - Pour it over Plastic?
 

From a story in the NY Times today on what works and what doesn't work to enhance the value of wine

Mr. Waterhouse said that the obnoxious, dank flavor of a “corked” wine, which usually renders it unusable even in cooking, can be removed by pouring the wine into a bowl with a sheet of plastic wrap.

“It’s kind of messy, but very effective in just a few minutes,” he said. “The culprit molecule in infected corks, 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, is chemically similar to polyethylene and sticks to the plastic.”


Full story about what doesn't work (pennies, dipping silver or carbon steel in it), etc is here

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/14/dining/14curi.html

That's great! Thanks so much for sharing.

i would think that to cram the plastic into a wide mouth decanter, or a wine pitcher pour the wine on it, and then just leave the plastic in the container.

mr waterhouse did not mention the type of plastic to use. plastic is not an element. various plastic films are very different chemical compositions.

mr waterhouse was very surprised that the aging process in wines was accelerated by raising the temp, and that the wine was not necessarily ruined when stored in that manner. sounds to me like "professor of wine chemistry at the University of California, Davis, and a specialist in oxidation reactions and phenolic substances" never took a course in oxidation reduction reactions.

Saran wrap reputedly works quite well.

Most food grade plastics are really quite inert (and should be). This suggestion seems silly to me.

MisterNice

I've heard that before about plastic wrap, but I've never tried it. I agree with slawecki; why in a bowl rather than in a decanter? Or at worst, a jar or glass.

Also in the article...
“You can saturate a wine with oxygen by sloshing it into a decanter, but then the oxygen just sits there,” he said. “It reacts very slowly. To change the tannins perceptibly in an hour, you would have to hit the wine with pure oxygen, high pressure and temperature, and powdered iron with a huge catalytic surface area.”

Now a gadget with THAT is one that I haven't seen advertised yet! :cool: (I suspect that this would not be good for many of the other characteristics of the wine.)

I have a hard time taking several things seriously in this article. For example, the ending about an accelerated aging system...

“So there’s no single optimal temperature for aging wines. I’d tell people who don’t keep wine for decades to forget about cellar temperatures. Take those big reds and put them on top of the refrigerator, the most heat-abusive place you can find, and in three years they’ll probably be at their peak.”

3 years on top of a refrigerator? I'm not going to try to prove him wrong.

Seems that a large bowl would be for the greater surface area collecting the particulates, or whatever; hence, the decanter would be too small.

we have and use crystal wine pitchers or large mouthed decanters. the opening at the top of various ones that we use have openings at the top from 4 to 6 inches. one could crinkle(wrinkle) up a few feet of plastic wrap and stuff it into the pitcher. would/could have a great deal of surface area. will go searching for a bottle of corked wine and try the plastic test.

Probably because Saran wrap is made of polyethylene film.

Just because something's inert doesn't mean a material can't cling to it. All that being inert means is that it resists chemical reaction. Look at Teflon. Very non-reactive material, but it can be bonded to the inside of your cookware. And, if you get it hot enough, it will break down. Plastics are actually soluble in water. The solubility is just so small that it's not significant. Some people can taste "plasticy" notes in bottled water. Glass is even less soluble.

Inertness (for lack of a better word) is a property of environmental conditions. Even inert gases like xenon can be made to react under extreme conditions.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say on the subject of cork taint:

I haven't tried one of these yet, but recently saw it demonstrated on TV
http://www.vinturi.com/home.html

I can't tell you how many California wineries have tried to sell me one of these gizmos. They push these gadgets pretty hard - I suspect more so because they are profitable rather than effective. I am highly suspicious of their effectiveness - I prefer the good old standby of patience.

There's a simpler option for dealing with corked wine - take it back. Most good wine shops will take back a corked bottle and swap it for a new one. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for big-box liquor stores and supermarkets.