Today was one of the first truly warm days of the year, reaching 61 F (16°C) but rained almost nonstop. Undeterred by the moisture, Jean convinced me to unearth the smoker from the garage and prepare the season's first batch of grilled food, some jerk chicken using our regionally infamous jerk paste. Because I am suffering from a mild cold, we decided against beer or red wine to avoid histamines and instead I convinced Jean to open a bottle lingering on our "open now" shelf:
2006 Dom. de Pepiere Muscadet Sevre et Maine "Clos de Briords" nose: minerals, green apples palate: light, crisp, rounded, a touch of honey
Bought for $15 at Sam's earlier this year, this perennial QPR winner was abnormally ready to drink (I'm still cellaring the '04, which can probably age for another decade effortlessly). After 30-45 minutes, though, I got a distinct, though subtle, whiff of TCA from the wine. When I mentioned to Jean that it now tasted slightly corked, she confided that she too had recently noticed the taint. This now makes a half dozen bottles opened in the last month that have proved to be corked, usually only barely. What have I done to deserve such a fate? It's now clear to me that I've made Dionysos's s*it list, but I don't know why. Clearly, an offering is in order, though, so I'll have to locate a lamb to offer up in the next month ;-) Jean remarked, though, that for the wine to have been this appealing when it was: a) mildly corked and b) paired with an unflattering match in jerk chicken is a great testament to how good a wine it really is. And, yet again after another sensational Muscadet, it makes me wonder why I risk my money on Chablis any more...
Mark Lipton