WTN: 2005 Domaine du Clos Verdy Chiroubles

A Cru Beaujolais by Georges Boulon.

13% alc. Attractive cherry-garnet colour of medium intensity; transparent. And then . . . horrendously corked on the nose. I can really make out no varietal aromas beyond the unbelievable TCA blanket - pheeew. What really surprised me was that contrary to most of my past experiences, this wine was fitted with a solid, high-quality-type cork - yet the cork taint here was just terrible. I did taste the wine nevertheless, and it showed a firm structure with ample grippy tannin, a lot of harsh alcoholic heat and a very drying, harsh finish. There were no flavours discernible on the mid-palate except the dank pong of TCA. Notwithstanding the cork taint, I'd say this wine wasn't worth the $17.95 I paid for it at Vintages. Overall, a disappointment.

...yet the cork taint here was just terrible. I did taste the wine nevertheless, and it showed a firm structure with ample grippy tannin, a lot of harsh alcoholic heat and a very drying, harsh finish. There were no flavours discernible on the mid-palate except the dank pong of TCA. Notwithstanding the cork taint, I'd say this wine wasn't worth the $17.95 I paid for it at Vintages.

Paul -

How can you judge if a wine is worth the price if it is corked? I know some people write that the underlying wine seemed like it was of good quality even with corked bottles, but once a bottle is contaminated with TCA, it seems like it would be impossible to tell much about the quality in an untainted bottle.

If a badly contaminated bottle from TCA removes all the fruit flavors, all you are left with is structure; acid and tannin and alcohol.

I would be disappointed too with the corked bottle.

Best,

Marc, you are right - the aromas were muted and could not be assessed.

Having said that, the harshness and heat on the palate were not something that I attributed to the corked nature of the wine, and it was those qualities that influenced my overall assessment.