Have you exchanged corked bottles?

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Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/10/2020 5:54:13 AM

winediplomats

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I recently exchanged a corked bottle for the first time. Here was my experience: https://winediplomats.com/wine-review-2017-2018-emiliana-coyam-colchagua-exchanging-corked-wines/

Have you tried to exchange a corked bottle with your retailer before? How did it go? How nice was the bottle? Would you only do this with nicer bottles or all corked bottles?

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/10/2020 6:07:25 AM

DoubleD1969

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I’ve only reached out to the retailer once regarding a corked bottle. In this case, I had purchased 2 bottles of 2007 Masseto from Schneider’s in DC. One was beautiful and the other was badly corked. It was drunk with a large group so it wasn’t just me that noticed it. I had the email receipt and sent to t them along with the picture of the two bottles with one 3/4 full. I received a store credit which I used to buy two Vega Sicilian bottles. Otherwise, I would not bother.

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/10/2020 6:13:22 AM

winediplomats

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Was this during COVID or before? Seems like quite an expensive bottle to give store credit for without physical proof of the bottle. But that's great that you got 2 Vega Sicilia bottles out of it.

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/10/2020 6:26:40 AM

DoubleD1969

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This was several years ago. I described the situation and offered to ship the remaining contents to them. The credit was good for a portion of only one bottle of Vega Sicilia. But it was a nice gesture from the retailer nonetheless.

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/10/2020 7:14:52 AM

Jenise

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Many times, but it depends on cost/source.

Worst experience ever: bought four bottles of the same Washington wine (I live in WA) from a local retailer to use in one of the neighborhood tastings I used to host. Three were severely corked. So rather than just return them to the local retailer, I called the winery because I thought the winemaker-owner would want to know about it as the odds of this happening were fairly stratospheric. Wrong guy to be nice to, it turns out. He was a total prick about it and hotly told me flat-out that it was impossible and I had no idea WTF I was talking about. Then he demanded I send him the three bottles. Lot more trouble than just taking them back to the retailer who would have refunded the money, but sure. And what did he do in response? Sent me three replacement bottles (of a gobby style I didn't like and wouldn't have wanted for myself, the tasting was over) but no apology and nothing extra to effectively reimburse the $30 it cost to ship the bad bottles.

But most of the time it's no drama.

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/10/2020 8:20:06 AM

jmcmchi

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Retailer or winery, no problems.

The only time i had to push the issue was at a wine bar where the server took some time to understand that "corked" did not mean bits of cork in the wine

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/10/2020 4:08:33 PM

BenG

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From: Australian in Idaho
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Jenise

Many times, but it depends on cost/source.

Worst experience ever: bought four bottles of the same Washington wine (I live in WA) from a local retailer to use in one of the neighborhood tastings I used to host. Three were severely corked. So rather than just return them to the local retailer, I called the winery because I thought the winemaker-owner would want to know about it as the odds of this happening were fairly stratospheric. Wrong guy to be nice to, it turns out. He was a total prick about it and hotly told me flat-out that it was impossible and I had no idea WTF I was talking about. Then he demanded I send him the three bottles. Lot more trouble than just taking them back to the retailer who would have refunded the money, but sure. And what did he do in response? Sent me three replacement bottles (of a gobby style I didn't like and wouldn't have wanted for myself, the tasting was over) but no apology and nothing extra to effectively reimburse the $30 it cost to ship the bad bottles.

But most of the time it's no drama.

Sorry to hear that. I would think that a winemaker would appreciate the feedback .... unless TCA was from the winery itself. I encountered this when I went to a Washington winery (name starts with M and ends with L) some years ago. Just about all their new releases had TCA but their older vintages didn't. I wrote to them to let them know. Never heard back. i make sure to never buy their wine.

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/10/2020 5:25:50 PM

mtpisgah

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Once. I texted the shop owner and he asked that I drop it by his house. He agreed it was corked and gave me a credit. I have other bad bottles that I decide it was jot worth the hassle to deal with.

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/10/2020 9:36:46 PM

Jenise

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Yeah, you would think. I later learned from someone else that in the past his winery had been infected, so his hot little tirade had something to do with fear that it was back, but as usual no sense shooting the messenger. Btw, I felt fairly certain when I hung up the phone that had I been a guy he wouldn't have been so quick to suggest that I didn't know what I was talking about.

And like you, I've never purchased his wine again. Of course, I don't care for the style, but even if I'd loved them my boycott would still stand. So many good guys in the wine business to give our business too instead.

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/11/2020 4:57:59 AM

wdcwineguys

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I have never had a problem with a retailer or winery when I’m dealing with a corked or damaged bottle.

Some have been with online merchants and they have accepted a photo and just given me a refund or credit.
I had a moderately priced bottle ($50) that came from Total Wine and when I removed the capsule there was a wine stain on the top of the cork. With the cork still in the bottle I could see the wine stain extend to the inside. Took the bottle back, no questions asked refund.

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/11/2020 5:15:15 AM

Paul852

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I don't generally bother with wines under about US$15, but I did have a batch of a wine recently which, when good, was very good, but 3 out of 8 that I opened were totally corked. The distributor knew of the problem and had no issue crediting one open bottle several unopened bottles.

I've exchanged a couple of pricier, opened bottles with suppliers who know me, but here many have rules that wines over 10 years old are "as is", and younger wines can only be exchanged within a few months of purchase.

I've had a few cheap bottles from supermarkets which were flawed, but they always just go down the drain.

< Message edited by Paul852 -- 10/11/2020 5:38:44 AM >

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/11/2020 5:31:23 AM

cjsavino

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When I have had corked bottles that were recently purchased, I do let the retailer know. Both retailers have given me credit back on the bottles. I did have to return them to one, most likely so they can get credit from their distributor.

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/11/2020 6:02:06 AM

winediplomats

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Paul852

I've exchanged a couple of pricier, opened bottles with suppliers who know me, but here many have rules that wines over 10 years old are "as is", and younger wines can only be exchanged within a few months of purchase.

That's my biggest fear. Opening up a 15+ year old 100+ dollar wine to find that it's corked. Will I even remember where I bought it from and will they accept it? Plus they won't be able to replace that particular wine which will have gone up in value by then. What would you do in that situation? Contact the producer??

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/11/2020 6:37:21 AM

CranBurgundy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: winediplomats

That's my biggest fear. Opening up a 15+ year old 100+ dollar wine to find that it's corked.

Life is full of risks and there are no guarantees. Pull those corks and drink up!

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/11/2020 6:50:38 AM

Paul852

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I'm with CranBurgundy on this - I accept that a small proportion will be flawed. In my case, since I've been using CT I've marked 8 bottles as flawed not returned, and 5 as flawed and returned. From 1700+ bottles that's under 1% (and a total value of about US$300), which I simply regard as an "overhead".

< Message edited by Paul852 -- 10/11/2020 6:53:45 AM >

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/11/2020 7:38:24 AM

DoubleD1969

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I agree with Cran as well. Open those bottles up and enjoy them. The chances are that they’re not corked. If you’re that worried about them, don’t buy expensive bottles that use a cork.

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/11/2020 8:12:12 AM

oskiwawa

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quote:

ORIGINAL: winediplomats

quote:

ORIGINAL: Paul852

I've exchanged a couple of pricier, opened bottles with suppliers who know me, but here many have rules that wines over 10 years old are "as is", and younger wines can only be exchanged within a few months of purchase.

That's my biggest fear. Opening up a 15+ year old 100+ dollar wine to find that it's corked. Will I even remember where I bought it from and will they accept it? Plus they won't be able to replace that particular wine which will have gone up in value by then. What would you do in that situation? Contact the producer??

I would say to myself " well that sucks " and then open up another bottle and move on. It happens.

< Message edited by oskiwawa -- 10/11/2020 8:13:46 AM >

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/11/2020 7:54:46 PM

Rich64N

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I’ve only once returned a wine and it was for severe smoke taint. My return was because I’d bought 6 of them, returned 4 full and 2 at 80-90%. I had no idea what the problem was but a local retired wine salesman tried it after I said bad artificial vanilla and after a sip told me I was totally wrong, artificial vanilla would be an improvement, that is burnt plastic, smoke taint (so now I know). Undrinkable. No problems returning it, and soon it was pulled from the shelves (cheap WA Yakima Valley RTW ~2012). These ease of return might have helped that the wine manager (son of the owner) knew I was a frequent customer.

As for TCA (corked) I'm decent at detecting it, but not super-sensitive about it. For a minor amount I'll do the Saran Wrap trick to reduce the TCA to below my tolerance, but I've had a few bottles where that wasn't enough.

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/12/2020 6:17:43 AM

winediplomats

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quote:

ORIGINAL: oskiwawa

quote:

ORIGINAL: winediplomats

quote:

ORIGINAL: Paul852

I've exchanged a couple of pricier, opened bottles with suppliers who know me, but here many have rules that wines over 10 years old are "as is", and younger wines can only be exchanged within a few months of purchase.

That's my biggest fear. Opening up a 15+ year old 100+ dollar wine to find that it's corked. Will I even remember where I bought it from and will they accept it? Plus they won't be able to replace that particular wine which will have gone up in value by then. What would you do in that situation? Contact the producer??

I would say to myself " well that sucks " and then open up another bottle and move on. It happens.

I exaggerated some, but I don't have a huge budget and can't buy cases of expensive wines, so for some bucket list wines I've been saving, it would suck majorly to have them be flawed in some way. So I was just honestly wondering if anyone has ever returned an expensive older bottle they had saved. Obviously, there are worse things in life and it's not something I actually think about when I open wines. I typically have a Forest Gump philosophy to wines: "You never know what you're going to get"

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/12/2020 7:35:49 AM

BenG

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quote:

ORIGINAL: winediplomats
I exaggerated some, but I don't have a huge budget and can't buy cases of expensive wines, so for some bucket list wines I've been saving, it would suck majorly to have them be flawed in some way. So I was just honestly wondering if anyone has ever returned an expensive older bottle they had saved. Obviously, there are worse things in life and it's not something I actually think about when I open wines. I typically have a Forest Gump philosophy to wines: "You never know what you're going to get"

You've hit upon one of the reasons why people buy cases of wine. It's so when you open that 15+ years $100 bottle for that bucket list occasion you don't think "this is actually a 10+ years bottle" or "this is a 30+ years bottle" or "this bottle is flawed". Buying a case, whether 6 or 12 bottles, allows you to try one bottle within a few months of purchase and return the whole case if that bottle is flawed (generally you would then open a second bottle to see if it's affecting the whole case). It also allows you try a bottle or two a few years into its development to get a sense of when the wine might peak. Finally it allows you to have a backup bottle in case the bottle for that special occasion is corked.

In my experience, as Paul852 says, most places will accept a returned bottle if it's within a few months of purchase, especially if it's the current release. Returning more than 12 months later, when the bottle is no longer the current release, is problematic and you may need to have a special relationship with the store owner.

< Message edited by BenG -- 10/12/2020 7:37:04 AM >

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RE: Have you exchanged corked bottles? - 10/12/2020 10:19:10 AM

winediplomats

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Yes. It's my plan to eventually start buying wines by 6-12 bottle cases. I've done that for a few wines, but for the most part I still haven't stopped limiting myself to buying 1-2 bottles of wines because I'm constantly exploring new regions, producers, grapes, etc. and also have a limited budget as I mentioned. The thinking is eventually I'll finally settle down on what I really like the most and invest in those.

Coravin is another solution I suppose. Has anyone experienced a corked bottle via Coravin?

Anyway, it's still a rare occurrence and the more expensive producers spare no expense to keep their wines untainted, so I'm not going to worry about it too much. I was just wondering what your experience has been exchanging the bottles when it does occur.

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