"Midlife" > wrote in message
...
>I raised this question as part of another thread, but it
>went unnoticed and
> I really would like some opinions on it.
>
> On the recommendation of a friend (who is something of an
> Italian wine
> buff), I picked up a bottle of Rosenblum Zin - Richard
> Sauret Vineyard -
> 2003 (US$12.49 at Costco..... my friend paid $18 at
> BevMo - h-m-m-m) and we
> tried it with some pizza. The 2002 vintage of this wine
> was a 92
> point WS pick, I think. The immediate sensation was very
> musty. I didn't
> really taste anything off, though the wine seemed very
> flat at first, but
> the mustiness was very strong. I've had this same thing
> happen a few times
> with an Antinori Chianti I used to like. After about 20
> minutes the
> mustiness had gone and the fruit was very much present.
> This became a
> really good Zin I would go back for more of, but the
> initial mustiness was
> pretty daunting.
>
> Now........ is that TCA?? or not? Does TCA 'air out' of a
> wine once it's
> opened, or is it simply there or not there?
>
> I also have an interesting side note to this. I spoke
> with the friend
> who recommended the wine, to ask if he has noted anything
> similar. He had
> not noticed the mustiness, but the couple bottles he has
> had both exhibited
> the same need to stand for 20 or 30 minutes for the fruit
> to come out. IN
> ADDITION, his opened bottles both had synthetic corks in
> them, while mine is
> definitely a natural cork (Same exact vintage). I'm
> wondering whether this
> has anything to do with how Costco got this wine and
> whether the 'corkiness
> - mustiness' was part of the unusually large price
> difference.
>
In my experience TCA stays in wine over time. Friends who
run a wine bar keep corked bottles to return to sales reps.
I occasionally use these to demonstrate TCA to wine courses.
Bottles that have been opened for over a week still
demonstrate marked TCA characters.
Martin