Cork Trials and Tribulations

This time of year is traditionally very slow in the wine industry.   January and February are the months where we can go on vacation and recover from Harvest.  This year is a little different and busier than normal.  Right now in the lab we are very busy with cork trials.

Red wine is aged in barrel typically between 18 and 24 months but white is a different story.  White wine is the product that supports the red wine.  It's made and bottled more quickly so we can make money within 6 months of bring in the wine instead of 2 and a half years (for the red wine to be bottled and sold).  So the Sauvignon blanc that we brought into the winery in September is ready to be bottled in March.  Bottling in March means having to conduct cork trials in January and February.

For wineries that use cork as a closure, cork trials are an inevitable part of the job.  The cork comes from Portugal and is harvested fresh every year, that is why every year we need to go through different lots and find the ones that we like.  Typically we get a 50 cork sample from a specific lot to trial.  I will trial between 15 and 20 lots.  Corks also come in different grades and price points.  You can get cork for as little as 30 cent each, or as much as $2.  The price range is huge and so are the quality differences, this is why we have to spend a long time selecting a lot.

We look at the color (wash: natural or peroxide), the amount of scarring or spots (lenticels), sometimes cheap low quality corks can have bits of the tree bark still visible.  After we grade them visually I put each cork into a glass jar filled with wine:

I'll prepare two sets at once.  This is all 100 corks that have soaked in wine over night:

 We soak them in wine to see what characters the cork could potentially impart on the wine, most importantly TCA.  That nasty aroma that ruins wine by making it smell unmistakably like wet dog.

After a 24 hour soak we dump the contents into a wine glass and smell (not taste) for anything funky or odd.  If just 1 cork in the lots of 50 has TCA, then we reject the entire lot and we start the process again.

This process is avoided if you use screw caps or glass closures, because there is not variability on those like there is in cork.  Also, screw caps can go down to as little as 13 cents a piece, or 20 cents if you want to get fancy.  When you are ordering 72, 000 corks, 20 cents a piece vs. $1 can really make a difference.

I could go on about how much I appreciate screw caps for white wine but I have sink full of dirty dishes to take care of.

-L