For the last 4 days, I have been suffering/recovering from a headcold that is making the rounds in these parts. Last night, with a crawfish jambalaya that I threw together, I opened a bottle of the 2006 Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc that we had lying around. I poured myself a glass and tasted it: decent, but unexceptional, NZ SB (just what was expected). I poured some for Jean who, a moment later, burst out laughing, saying that it was hideously corked! I went back and smelled my glass and tasted it again: fruit, acids, minerals, but no moldy odors! Jean by now could barely contain her amusement at this role reversal: normally I am the one who is more sensitive to TCA, leading to a few tense discussions about whether a wine is *really* corked or not (me: "It's corked, just not to a very great extent"; her: "Do you really intend to return this wine to the restaurant? It seems fine to me"). After much deliberation, I finally got a few hints of cork taint, but never anything serious. The weird thing from my perspective is that I could taste the wine, just not the cork taint! So, my question is: has anyone else ever had this experience of a loss of sensitivity to TCA brought on (I presume) by a headcold? I have to say that if I could fully taste wines without getting the TCA, I would be willing to keep coughing for the rest of my life ;-)
Mark Lipton