I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to post this under, but here is my question.

I opened a bottle of 2002 Turley Juvenile Zin for Valentines day...it was corked...Should I contact the winery or just eat the $25. I've never dealt with a corked wine from a mailing list so was just looking for some input.

thanks

This has been discussed recently but I can't find the other thread. In short, eat it. As a serious wine consumer you should expect a certain about of corked wines in my opinion. Only when it because a serious issue with a specific wine/winery should you contact the winery and try to work out a replacement IMHO.

Here's what I would do. I'd send them an e-mail letting them know that I had a corked wine. I would tell them that I was passing this information along just in case they keep track of such things internally. I would then close by asking whether they had any program in place for mailing list customers to get credit or replacement bottles. When approached in a polite and non-confrontational manner, I would be surprised if you didn't get some sort of positive response from them.

I have not doubt that works Jimmy. I did that with Peay and they were more than happy to give me credit on my next order. However, in all fairness, if somebody wants to pursue a credit on a corked wine I think it is only proper that the remainder of the wine be returned to the winery so it can be checked with their TCA tester.

wineismylife, I believe you are referring to an earlier post from a poster here that had a corked bottle of Neal, correct?

Here is my response @ that time:

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1 bad bottle, it happens. Like wineismylife posted, that's wine, it happens. Myself, I would not make an issue of it.

I had 6 out 6 from Martinelli that were bad. In that case, I called Martinelli. But, a bad bottle here & there happens all the time. All the time. That's the dynamics/risk of wine.

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Quote:

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I think it is only proper that the remainder of the wine be returned to the winery so it can be checked with their TCA tester.

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I don't see why this would be so. Seems like a rather Draconian step to require a customer to pay to send 23 unopened bottles back because 1 was corked. The winery should instead reply by thanking the customer for bringing this to their attention, offering them a future credit, and asking that the customer notify them if any future bottles are cordked. If it turns out that there are numerous corked bottles, only then would I think that the entire batch should be returned. I am not aware of any statistical proof that having one corked bottle out of 12 indicates a higher probability that the remaining 11 are also corked. I could be wrong about that.

Or the winery could do what Montelena did to Jones, which is to say: "Hey idiot, go read Parker's review, drink our wine and shut up. Oh. And have a nice day."

LOL Jimmy

I think you eat the corked bottle unless you have an unusual string of corked/damaged bottles from the producer. Its an inherent risk in any wine purchase transaction and in wine collecting in general.

I was saying send the corked bottle back...not the entire shipment.

Ah. Misunderstood. As Emily Letella would say.....Never Mind.

Thanks for the feedback...i was actually planning on eating it for the reasons mentioned. It is part of the risk of collecting. I just wanted other opinions in case I was off base. As JimmyV pointed out, I wasn't sure if wineries track this sort of info from mailing list customers.

I think wineries genuinely want to know when you come across a corked bottle and I'm sure they would appreciate a quick email saying you had a bad bottle, which one it was, etc...

A slight tangent - would a corked wine be suitable for cooking? So, assuming one doesn't return the bottle and just accepts the fact that a random corked bottle is a fact of life, would the tainted wine be suitable for cooking? Or, would it follow the "rule" regarding cooking only with wine that one would drink?

MikeW: we (sometimes) use them for cooking, yes.

I've had my share of corked/bad bottles purchased from stores, mailing lists, etc... I never contacted the producer. The only time I did was with Martinelli. A shipment of 6 chards were all bad. BUT, the rest of the bottles from "other" producers were all OK.

I get my most of my Mailing List wines via Always Cool. The wines are stored @ Always Cool & then shipped to me. If I have 1 bad bottle from whatever producer, how/why would I blame the producer (i.e. Turley) & expect Turley to replace the bottle when I am not sure @ what point the bottle was damaged???

emottram: Just using Turley as an example.

I agree with Brian. What other industy would put up with a 5-10% defect rating? Would you be happy if 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 meals you bought tasted bad and could not be eaten? Or one in ten cans of Coke were flat?

In OZ, we have consumer protection laws which make it manditoiry for wineries/retailers/importers to replace all corked bottles. TCA is a manufacturing defect, no more or no less so there is no reason why the consumer should have to eat it. But then thank God we have sane wine distribution laws which make it easy to ship wines accross state line with no problems.

And its not just Australia, the UK, Canada and even NZ, have similar return policies/laws.

Torb/Brian: you make good points, you really do. BUT…

If you go to a restaurant, the next morning you have an upset stomach or some kind of stomach pain/virus, whatever… Do you call that restaurant, & tell them that fact & tell them what?!? I don’t know. And, what do you expect them to do?!? - Refund you money? Give you a free meal next time? …

Hell, I don’t like corked, bad, off bottles any more or less than you or another wine-drinking individual. If I spend $100.00 on a bottle of wine, but I don’t like that bottle. I will call that producer & tell them, “…you know what, that bottle was corked or damaged so please refund my money.” Is that an honest thing to do? – No. Is it a scummy thing to do? – Yes. BUT, an individual can do it (& I am sure a few would like to do it OR have tried to do it).

You know, you buy a bottle of Grey Goose vodka & it’s all the same. You don’t have to worry about bad corks, storage, shipping issues, & it tastes the same & reliable all the time. Easy! We know that with wine, this is not the case.

My point being that this is WINE & not Coke & not Fruity Pebbles, & such… Like it or not, those are the “dangers” of wine. One bad bottle, I will live with it & I don’t expect the producer to take the hit/responsibility financially.

The fact that Brian would replace the bottle is commendable & I appreciate his concern for the consumer. At the moment, I have over a case of Loring wines. If 1 of those bottles is “bad”, I will not be calling Brian to replace it.

Brian,

Sometimes it just isn't worth the hassle so you eat it. I did later clarify you should let the winery know about it via email. FWIW.

i just chalk it up as a loss.