JH02JLH
Active member
Last night I tasted my first corked wine in a restaurant.
It was a Rioja and when invited to taste, I did suspect it was corked but as so often in these cases, I thought I would give it a minute to breathe.
However, when I took another sip, it definitely tasted musty and woody. Luckily my friend agreed with me and so we sent it back.
The waitress took it away saying they would try it, but I wasn't going to accept it anyway.
My suspicion was confirmed and we were given another bottle which tasted so much better, like a Rioja should!
The purpose of tasting a wine in a restaurant is to make sure the wine is acceptable in terms of quality. Don't ever be afraid to send a bottle back if you are not happy with it, but this means you think there is a fault and not simply because you don't "like it".
Common faults are mustiness/damp cellar smells (corked), vinegary smells and cloudiness in wine.
Occasionally, with some wine, you get sediments clinging to the glass but this is not really a fault and means the wine hasn't been filtered. A good restaurant will normally decant it for you.
Also, a good restaurant should ALWAYS open the bottle at the table. This means the wine is the same as you ordered and they haven't decanted some cheap plonk into the expensive Bordeaux you have just ordered!
Happy drinking!
Jane
It was a Rioja and when invited to taste, I did suspect it was corked but as so often in these cases, I thought I would give it a minute to breathe.
However, when I took another sip, it definitely tasted musty and woody. Luckily my friend agreed with me and so we sent it back.
The waitress took it away saying they would try it, but I wasn't going to accept it anyway.
My suspicion was confirmed and we were given another bottle which tasted so much better, like a Rioja should!
The purpose of tasting a wine in a restaurant is to make sure the wine is acceptable in terms of quality. Don't ever be afraid to send a bottle back if you are not happy with it, but this means you think there is a fault and not simply because you don't "like it".
Common faults are mustiness/damp cellar smells (corked), vinegary smells and cloudiness in wine.
Occasionally, with some wine, you get sediments clinging to the glass but this is not really a fault and means the wine hasn't been filtered. A good restaurant will normally decant it for you.
Also, a good restaurant should ALWAYS open the bottle at the table. This means the wine is the same as you ordered and they haven't decanted some cheap plonk into the expensive Bordeaux you have just ordered!
Happy drinking!
Jane
