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Brett or mold taste question

I have a batch of 2002 Chardonnay that at bottling time was a very pleasant, slightly oaked wine. I then bottled in Jan 2004. I had a bad experience with the corks. They were natural corks but in real bad shape. I should have checked them before purchasing them. They looked like a drunken sailor whittled them with a dull knife. They had 1/4" grooves along the side. I can't imagine how they could have passed quality control.

Anyway over 50% leaked. No problem, we drank them in the next few months and that wine was o.k. I was checking the remaining bottles last week and noticed that quite a few of them have some mold on the cork. It appears the corks leaked a small amount. The wine in these bottles tastes funny. The chardonnay character is still and it would be a nice wine except that there is a slight moldy type smell and taste.

Is this a mold taste/smell or is it Brett? I guess there is no way to save the wine?

thanks

Joe

Reply to
Pino
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Could be mold, brett, TCA or a number of other spoilage problems. Air getting into the bottle causes some; bad corks the remainder. No way to fix it. Sorry. :^(

Tom S

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Reply to
Tom S

I have a burgundy that had a smell like you describe that you could smell three feet away from the wine, but it tasted ok. I used Bocksin to clear up the smell. I do not know if it would do anything for the taste.

Roy

Reply to
Roy Boy

From the descriptions I can find I think the problem is TCA . The article also says there is no danger to people and that up to15% of the commercial wine is infected (the industry will only admit to 1.5%).

Anyway I can definetely smell and taste it so I can't drink it. But I accidently served a bottle and the others didn't notice. They complimented the wine. I should be able to use the remaining bottles for cooking?

Joe

Reply to
Pino

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