Community Tasting Note
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randyjc wrote: 89 points
March 24, 2015 - I liked this wine a year ago and I like it more now. On opening, it had a really odd, off-putting wet basement smell. I thought something might be wrong with my glass so I switched glasses. It wasn't the glass. But the wine itself was fine. After about 30 minutes the icky smell disappeared. At that point, the wine was beautiful - bright red, sweet strawberry/cherry fruits, enough acid to carry and a finish that was dusty, spicy-tart and long. Very nice wine - better value.
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4 Comments
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sleepyhaus commented:
10/7/15, 6:57 AM - If a smell like that fades it is likely caused by reduction. If it does not fade, or if it fades but the fruit is muted, then it is likely TCA, it is corked. Reduction is a result of wines made without racking, resulting in no oxygen getting to the wine except what occurs as a part of bottling, which is very little with modern bottling lines. So when you expose the wine to oxygen the reduction goes away. It will also fade gradually in bottle as the wine sees some ingress of oxygen while in bottle, albeit much less than say a decant would introduce.
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randyjc commented:
10/8/15, 2:30 AM - I appreciate the comment but wonder what it is about my note or my profile that makes you think I do not already know that? My point in making the comment was to describe the experience and thereby let people reading the notes know that it may be advisable to decant, not pop and pour. Many thanks though.
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sleepyhaus commented:
10/8/15, 6:00 AM - Probably it was it was "[a]fter about 30 minutes the icky smell disappeared" that made me think you might not know the cause of the "icky smell." I meant no offense, but even though you knew, perhaps other readers who are curious about this wine would benefit from the use of the phrase reduction.
CT attracts users of various knowledge levels about wine, and frequently posters don't know what causes a particular wine condition. Wine flaws are often mislabeled or misunderstood. So again, I meant no offense. -
randyjc commented:
10/9/15, 6:58 AM - Thank you for the response - I appreciate it.