ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:12891
 | | 04/27/2003 11:42 PM |
| | i seem to find different opinions on this. does it really exist? can it happen? i am not talking about an aged wine with sediment but young wines from shipping. | | | |
|
wineismylife
Arlington, TX
Master of Wine
Posts:12003
| | 04/27/2003 11:47 PM |
| | I agree it exists. I'm drinking a wine right now that I had several months ago the day I received it. I can't definitively say the difference is because of shock or simply I've let a new wine age for about six months before consuming it next but I distinctly taste a difference. Could be shock. What I've never done is transport an aged wine from the cellar and drank upon arrival. People I respect their opinions say they have and it does make a difference. | |
Joe
-----
Wine is like potato chips around me...if it's open, it's gone. | |
|
Budman
Master of Wine
Posts:11834
| | 04/27/2003 11:55 PM |
| All I can say is this...
I bought a bunch of Marquis Philips 01 Shiraz last year.
The few I drank right away were OK (88 pointsish).
The ones that have sat in the cellar for a few months
are incredibly kick-ass good(92-93 pointsish)!
The sleep they got certainly did them a good turn! | | | |
|
Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Lover
Posts:4809
| | 04/27/2003 11:56 PM |
| I have always used this term to describe what the wine is going through just after it is bottled. It goes through a 4 to 6 month period of radical changes before kniting together.
As for traveling, there are many opinions. Many winemakers are fond of saying some variation of "the wine always tastes best at home". There was a long discussion about this on one of the other boards. | | | |
|
David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15709
| | 04/28/2003 2:08 AM |
| My definition of bottle shock is the "unrest" the wine goes through when taken out of the barrel and put into the bottle. This is why wineries don't ship their wine for two or three (or more) months after bottling. Any wine you buy through normal sources should not have any "bottle shock".
So you work on a bottling line. You work hard all morning taking the empty bottles out of the box, loading the bottles onto the line (where it gets filled, corked and labeled), putting the full bottles back in the box, sealing the boxes and putting the labels on the box. Then it is time for lunch. You pour some of the wine you are bottling out of the barrel and into a pitcher. Grab a piece of BBQ and drink some of the most delicious juice (wine) right out of the pitcher. Yum! Then you go back to work doing what you have doing some more. End of the day comes and you take a couple of the new bottles home. You are exhausted and have already had to much toO drink out of that pitcher so you just crash and don't drink anything that night.
Next day is a liesurely day at regular work (besides you are resting up from yesterday). You get home that night feeling pretty good. You crack open a bottle of that stuff you bottled yesterday and...
YUCK! It is merde. That my friends is BOTTLE SHOCK.  | | | |
|
Jeremy Matthew
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2067
| | 04/28/2003 11:40 PM |
| | Bottle shock definately exists, and is evident by a acid domination of all flavours,resulting in a flat nose and almost no fruit evident inn the mouth. | | | |
|
love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12352
| | 04/28/2003 11:46 PM |
| That's what I hear. Never experienced it. But, I always give enough time (after delivery) for that exact reason.
...but you know, I would be tempted to run a test (with some "cheaper" bottles). But, the Wines that I get via Mailing Lists are all in the “higher-end”. But, an interesting test to run nonetheless (for an individual)... | | | |
|
ChangeMe
Barrel Filler
Posts:1010
| | 04/29/2003 1:00 PM |
| Bottle shock is a phase wine goes through immediately after bottling that seems to last for a few months. I'm not exactly sure why but it is real. Perhaps one of the wine pro's could explain it again.
Travel shock is a phase wine seems to go through after shipping or rough handling. IMHO two distinctly different phenomenons that should not be confused with each other. I also believe that this is a real phenomenon even though no definitive conclusion seems to have been reached as to why it does. | | | |
|
Budman
Master of Wine
Posts:11834
| | 04/29/2003 2:35 PM |
| GA,
Excellent clarification!
I think I've seen it somewhere before, but it's a good reminder for all of us. | | | |
|
ChangeMe
Grape Stomper
Posts:152
| | 03/12/2004 2:21 PM |
| I asked about bottle shock/travel shock on WS some months ago and Peter Howland (enologist) told me it exists, but that it has not been scientifically explained.
(Pete, hope I understood you correctly there.) | | | |
|
Tom
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2384
| | 03/12/2004 2:25 PM |
| | I believe that it does impact wines. I had a Rochioli Chardonnay on the day after it arrived (sorry...just couldn't wait) and the wine was at best so so. No, it wasn't corked,bad smell, etc. just so so. I was really disappointed since I had 12 of them. A few weeks later I tried the same wine again, a clear winner. I don't know what else would account for that type of difference. | | | |
|
ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:12891
| | 03/12/2004 2:33 PM |
| | from what i experienced with the 01 pride, i think i am becoming a believer | | | |
|
skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 03/12/2004 3:24 PM |
| | Anthony, I think with the Pride you may not be getting bottle shock in the traditional sense if you drank it right after you purchased the wine from the winery. Pride bottles and then releases very soon after the bottling. What you are probably getting is that the wine needs some bottle age on it in this particular case. | | | |
|
Budman
Master of Wine
Posts:11834
| | 03/12/2004 3:26 PM |
| skwid... I think AI had double trouble - bottle shock AND travel shock!
Living 2500-3000 miles from the winery will do that to you! | | | |
|
ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:12891
| | 03/12/2004 4:09 PM |
| | i think you are both right. i have 6 left and they will rest for long while before i try them again. | | | |
|
Pool Boy
Laurl, MD (DC suburb)
Master of Wine
Posts:13660
| | 03/14/2004 11:24 PM |
| | Whenever I do get wine shipped out my way, I won't touch it for at least several weeks. I have enough other stuff to choose from, best not to mess with it just in case. | |
www.roguefood.com -- www.cellartracker.com | |
|
ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:12891
| | 03/15/2004 6:20 AM |
| | i just drank a 01 richard partridge cab that i just had delivered. i also imagine that it just traveled 3000 miles the jersey as well. this wine was just fantastic. if it had bottle or travel shock i can't wait to try it in a few months. | | | |
|