Curse that cork

This was a new one for me: corked vintage Port. The wine was 1990 Symington Quinta do Vesuvio. The cork was intact and in excellent condition. The first whiff of the wine nearly bowled me over. Not just corked--positively reeking with TCA. This is the worst case of corked wine I've ever encountered. And the first case of a corked vintage Port.

Fortunately I have a full case, so I was able to open another bottle. This one was fine. The 1990 Quinta do Vesuvio is a deep, translucent purple despite having thrown a huge amount of sediment. The tannins are resolved, but there is still a lot of structure and some rough edges. Aromas are a bit closed in and if I'd been served this blind I would have thought I was drinking a young ruby wood Port. Still young at twenty-six. Larry Curly Moe (enjoyable, showing some complexity, some rough edges). I'd wait a bit longer on this one.

-Paul W.

I've only had a couple of corked VP, but they were pretty extreme. Wonder if alcohol accentuates?

It could be that the high alcohol level facilitates dissolving TCA in the wine. Also, vintage Port is usually 20+ years old before you pull the cork, so there will be a lot more time for TCA to diffuse into the wine than is usually the case.

-Paul W.