I had lunch this week with an old friend and long time Napa vintner
who shall remain nameless. I brought along a bottle to share of 1976
BV Georges De Latour Private Reserve Cabernet that was in terrific
shape yet badly corked. After a twenty minute lecture on from the
vintner on how far natural corks have come since the 70's, I brought
forth a bottle of his own winery's top level Cabernet from the 1997
vintage to open and share with him......it was badly corked. Red
faced he graciously offered to send me a replacement from his library
which I just recieved.

On Apr 30, 10:26*am, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> I had lunch this week with an old friend and long time Napa vintner
> who shall remain nameless. I brought along a bottle to share of 1976
> BV Georges De Latour Private Reserve Cabernet that was in terrific
> shape yet badly corked. *After a twenty minute lecture on from the
> vintner on how far natural corks have come since the 70's, I brought
> forth a bottle of his own winery's top level Cabernet from the 1997
> vintage to open and share with him......it was badly corked. *Red
> faced he graciously offered to send me a replacement from his library
> which I just recieved.

Corked wines can happen even for the most famous and expensive estate
wines. I once had a corked wine from DRC. It was their 1970 Echezeaux,
if I remember this event correctly from many years ago. While this was
not DRC's best vintage or one of their most expensive wines, it was
rather expensive compared with wines from most other estates at the
time.

On Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:26:43 -0700 (PDT), "Bi!!" >
wrote:

>After a twenty minute lecture on from the
>vintner on how far natural corks have come since the 70's, I brought
>forth a bottle of his own winery's top level Cabernet from the 1997
>vintage to open and share with him......it was badly corked.

Isn't it true though that most of the improvements "since the 70s"
have been in the last 5 years or so? So the 1997 would not have seen
any of them.

--
Steve Slatcher
http://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher

On May 1, 1:14�am, Steve Slatcher > wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:26:43 -0700 (PDT), "Bi!!" >
> wrote:
>
> >After a twenty minute lecture on from the
> >vintner on how far natural corks have come since the 70's, I brought
> >forth a bottle of his own winery's top level Cabernet from the 1997
> >vintage to open and share with him......it was badly corked.
>
> Isn't it true though that most of the improvements "since the 70s"
> have been in the last 5 years or so? So the 1997 would not have seen
> any of them.
>
> --
> Steve Slatcherhttp://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher

He wasn't referring to synthetics. He felt that particularly during
the 70's that cork producers were trying to meet a demand that they
couldn't meet and still maintain a level of quality. The demand rose
as the New World wine makers came on board in terms of quantity. He
felt that the 70's in particular were a dark period for cork producers
and little care was given in regards to the spread of TCA through
infected corks.

On Fri, 1 May 2009 05:48:45 -0700 (PDT), "Bi!!" >
wrote:

>On May 1, 1:14?am, Steve Slatcher > wrote:
>> On Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:26:43 -0700 (PDT), "Bi!!" >
>> wrote:
>>
>> >After a twenty minute lecture on from the
>> >vintner on how far natural corks have come since the 70's, I brought
>> >forth a bottle of his own winery's top level Cabernet from the 1997
>> >vintage to open and share with him......it was badly corked.
>>
>> Isn't it true though that most of the improvements "since the 70s"
>> have been in the last 5 years or so? So the 1997 would not have seen
>> any of them.
>>
>> --
>> Steve Slatcherhttp://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher
>
>He wasn't referring to synthetics.

Me neither. Just cork producers taking the problem seriously and
doing something about it.

>He felt that particularly during
>the 70's that cork producers were trying to meet a demand that they
>couldn't meet and still maintain a level of quality. The demand rose
>as the New World wine makers came on board in terms of quantity. He
>felt that the 70's in particular were a dark period for cork producers
>and little care was given in regards to the spread of TCA through
>infected corks.

Well maybe, but I thought that dark period extended well beyond the
70s.

--
Steve Slatcher
http://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher

On May 1, 10:40�am, Steve Slatcher > wrote:
> On Fri, 1 May 2009 05:48:45 -0700 (PDT), "Bi!!" >
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> >On May 1, 1:14?am, Steve Slatcher > wrote:
> >> On Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:26:43 -0700 (PDT), "Bi!!" >
> >> wrote:
>
> >> >After a twenty minute lecture on from the
> >> >vintner on how far natural corks have come since the 70's, I brought
> >> >forth a bottle of his own winery's top level Cabernet from the 1997
> >> >vintage to open and share with him......it was badly corked.
>
> >> Isn't it true though that most of the improvements "since the 70s"
> >> have been in the last 5 years or so? So the 1997 would not have seen
> >> any of them.
>
> >> --
> >> Steve Slatcherhttp://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher
>
> >He wasn't referring to synthetics. �
>
> Me neither. �Just cork producers taking the problem seriously and
> doing something about it.
>
> >He felt that particularly during
> >the 70's that cork producers were trying to meet a demand that they
> >couldn't meet and still maintain a level of quality. �The demand rose
> >as the New World wine makers came on board in terms of quantity. �He
> >felt that the 70's in particular were a dark period for cork producers
> >and little care was given in regards to the spread of TCA through
> >infected corks.
>
> Well maybe, but I thought that dark period extended well beyond the
> 70s.
>
> --
> Steve Slatcherhttp://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

It may well have but I wasn't going to argue with a guy who has owned
and operated a successful Napa Valley winery since 1972. It seemed to
be a sensetive subject with him and he was really getting his "Irish"
up so I let it drop. I think he uses synthetic corks these days.