Obviously I don't know what is happening in the current 2010 episodes as i'm still working through, but it might be best to say a guest should ask a preference or general opinion of the Vayner Nation for the QOTD.

I think the jury is still out on corked %ages and screwcaps, as corks are getting cleaner, and screwcaps better. I think "corked" bottles are often misdiagnosed, I had someone telling me a young very TANNIC wine was corked! I can believe 0.5% to 4%.

GV, I really find it hard to believe that screwtop wines flavors are going into reduction within the first year or even two of being bottled. Wines at around $30 are going under screwcap these days - do you really think the winemakers bottling this stuff are not keeping track of their wine one to two years out? If they were to believe that srewcaps were determental why would they continue to use them? Winemakers view screwtop as a way to consistantly deliver the best product without cork taint. They use this closure on reds that are not inteded to age and for whites. There definatly is a place for cork but when wines are consumed so fast why not. The cost savings is minimal vs cork.

I enjoy the show, and Gary's always very entertaining. I love the Petalos, and agree it has a lot of interesting things going on. It's a wine that improves with air, and it's a masculine wine, very dark and earthy and brooding, but complex and full of vigor and life. It's terrific--perhaps ideal--with roasted pork. It's really a wine that takes time to evolve after you open it--another reason I'm a fan of traditional corks. I think this would be a different wine in a screwcap. And that's from someone who experiences, on average, a corked bottle in every "several dozen" that I open. I would say, over time, over thousands of bottles, I get wine affected by TCA at a rate of at least 3-5 bottles in very hundred. I might go 100 bottles without seeing--though rarely--but then might get 3 out of the next 20. So it's there, Gary, far more often than you are appreciating. Put aside "my dog's bigger than yours" mentality, I like corks, like you, for wines I want to evolve, but you are missing some corked bottles if you think it's only 1 in 2,500 or fewer. You're way, way, way, off on that my friend. But I like your show.

BEN

I see that there is a rather divergent opinion on the guest for this show. I had no real problems with the Wine Chick. She spoke her mind. Your opinion may vary. Whatever. I found the discussion on cork vs. screw-tops interesting, but I think Gary was way off on his "1 in 2500" estimate of corked wine. I don't think that it is the cork opposition statement of 5-10% or more. I don't think it is 2%. According to a review of my tasting notes over the years, I have found 5 corked bottles in about 1700 so that is about .2% from my experience in recent years. And, yes, I do drink a lot of 10 year old or more wine.

QOTD: Stupid question - it was trivia rather than opinion. The latter is far more interesting, although at least she was ready with her question and not surprised by the concept.

A little late, but the answer of the QOTD is Marula. This fruit is used with some cream in the licquor Amarula. A neighbor of mine brought back a bottle from a business trip to Africa. We love having bottles of liquor from different areas of the globe in the bar.

Love the episode. Keep Crushin it!

Great guest. Very knowledgeable.
QOTD - I am not all that interested and, NO, I will not Google it because a) I am not a jerk off, and b) I have better things to do.

Sounds like she's drinking the cork Kool-Aid. Wasn't a fan.
While there is some romance to the cork, it isn't necessary for all wines. A yellow tail that is going to be drank within its first 3 years in the bottle, has no reason to have a cork besides the novelty and romance of the cork.

In the 90s I had a small winefarm in Wellington, South Africa. I grew grapes for my local co-op and was therefore entitled to an allowance of KWV wines at cheap price.Over the years I bought several hundred cases of small bottles (dumpies), around 250 ml, with screw caps. They were cab, merlot & shiraz. Over the years I drank several of these a day. And about one in ten/fifteen was oxydised which was about what I'd expect for a five year old (as these were) cork-stoppered bottle. So, my empirical opinion is that while screw tops are easier to open, they don't resolve all problems. In my life I've been lucky in that "corked" wines have only rarely come my way. Whereas oxydised are everywhere once the wine gets a few years old.

Actually the answer of the QOTD is Marula. This fruit is used with some cream in the licquor Amarula (brand) and others. It is not very good in my opinion...

I didn't like this "wine chick" she is all about herself! Gary said it right: I think most of the statments that the wine is corked or bretty are attempts of self asurance...

P.S.: Sorry about the bad english, I'm not a native speaker.

Gary,

I listen to you. Now, where were we...?

Oh yes. I think that Liza 'The Human Bobblehead' Zimmerman would be a much better moniker for your guest. I mean, does this woman possess any neck muscles?

One more thing. Why is/was she wearing Bronko Nagurski's wedding ring around her neck?

Regards,

Mrs. Bronko Nagurski

Great show Gary. Judi and yowens had good points about cork tree reduction (I don't have figures) and people keeping wine too long. I'd probably guess the ratio to be about 1 in 300. But I don't see it as a cork vs. screwcap issue. How about synthetic corks or cheaters? In my mind screwcaps are a far better option than synthetics for wines I'm going to drink within a couple of years. Flavor reduction in just a few months? I'm no expert, but I find that difficult to believe. If a wine with a cork will have a disticnt difference in flavor over that short of a time, then it may not last long anyway. Again, great stuff!

Not my favorite guest ever... she didn't seem to be intersted in expanding palettes, kinda like an anti-Gary.

2% seems high but maybe I'm just drinking a alot of wines that aren't meant to age and therefore rarely are corked. Or maybe I'm just not good at detecting it. QOTD: Without wikipedia I'm clueless.

Great episode gary! I love it when you have knowledgeable guests and engage in some serious debate. Finally a guest who knew the that the QOTD was coming. I loved her shout out to Angelo's in Sonoma, great jerky.

QOTD: don't know and won't resort to google.

I was surprised by the 2% corked figure too: it's been a long time since I had a corked wine. Having said that, sparkling wines are a different thing altogether : my wife drinks a lot of sparkling wine and I'm finding that around one in every 15~20 bottles is so poorly sealed under cork that there is no pop when you open it and the wine is virtually flat when you pour it. The remaining CO2 is enough to keep the wine fresh, but not enough to give it bubbles. I have never found that with good champagne (so maybe they're using higher quality cork at the top end of the market) but certainly at the cheaper end ($10~20) the figures are way too high -- I don't like having to take wine back to the shop and ask for a replacement and I find I'm doing that a couple of times a month.

I would have thought the amount of corked wine would be about 1 in 500.

Worst QOTD of the day ever!

Sorry ...... I had a bottle with a bad screw top. I noticed it two states later driving) when, looking for something, I felt a wet on the bottle while moving it. The cap was still connected to the neck piece but upon further checking after feeling a wetness, I found that the cap and neck piece would twist around the bottle with minor effort, apparently enough that fluid can leak out. It kinda makes sense. I'm sure the machines clamping these twist caps on have to slowly wear or expand and need adjustment on occasion, due to pressure, heat, wear, etc. anyway, I don't feel that screwcaps are foolproof.
Peter

Wow, I had to replay that cork issue a few times to understand it.....interesting discussion....

Nice show. Always like when you have guests (nothing about you Gary, just a nice change of pace), especially knowledgeable ones (that eliminates those College Humor guys).

No one can compete with Sasha as a guest though :)

I just got a chance to watch this episode(sorry, too busy) and did anyone
reference the fact that within the past few years, there is a claim that
the cork trees are being decimated worldwide? that is why they are going to
other types of closures for wine....and besides that...2 in every 100 wines
are "corked" or corky....tnat is completely off in my opinion.

GARYYY!!!! Was it really news that 2% means 2 in every 100???? You were good at practical math??? :) :) :)

That's too funny!!!

Liza was fun if a bit close minded and pushing only Portuguese wines. A little preconceived mindset. Not liking bretty wines and liking Portugal? Come on! I find in a lot of Portuguese wines the definition of "sheep's butt". And that characteristic is what I find appealing in them.

QOTD. Amarula is the trivia answer. She must have been in South Africa recently.

Episode #654! Gotta applaud your stamina! Enjoy most shows, but over 12 minutes
before "giving it a whirl"? Little to much conversation - not enough action...

Great guest. Have her on again.
QOTD: African or Indian elephants?

did I already post? busy days so took me four days to watch this all. smile. But I did!
Great hostess, she is a good talent!

Foggy Forest. A new term I must find a wine to say THAT! ha.

Good argument over assumed problems with wines. Nice debate.

QOTD: Marula or something like that. it's yellow.

Good stuff.. Interestingly enough I was once in Cheers magazine.. There was this contest for making a drink and the one I made was put in the magazine.. lol what a great memory!!

Gary seems like you've totally changed tour tune in regard to screw tops!! Each to their own... just thought u were more of a screw top guy that's all.
PS. Penfolds is planning on changing its premium range to screw top soon, just a thought.

I'm sorry? The acid is high in Sicilian whites?

This guest was very knowledgeable about what she liked and what it meant to her. Excellent discussion about corks, as I hear crazy stats about 5% ruined when I have yet to notice those 5%!

i'm with u on that one GV,the percent of corked wines is minute!but most people really just wanna show off,especially when they know u can't argue with them;i call this 'taking the piss'.in the UK,or in london at least,very very very few restaurants/wine bars use decanters;and when u don't decant a 5-9 year red,specially the big boys,some of them are simply pathetic on the nose,and pipo take this as corked:i think this is ridiculous!screwcaps are for drink now wines;and i hope this doesn't change. there's too much propaganda on screwcaps that might bury use of corks;especially that screwcap packaging is economically advantageous for winemakers.I've had more wine go down my throat than rain has on the amazon,and only came across 3 corked wines,and one corked champagne;yesterday!!!

Great guest. You surprised me by your disbelief in the cork producer's statistics. My experience would say a little over two percent. I asked a friend at the largest wine seller in Minnesota and he said he found it to be around eight percent.

Hey Gary:
I confessed I haven't seen your show for a while.
Sorry; too many late night "wine tastings".
I was advised to watch this episode by many who felt it was one of the best shows you have done.
I couldn't agree more!!
Liza was informed, funny and clearly a great match to your style.
Its great to see people who are passionate about something find kindred spirits and join in the revelry.
Both of you have clear likes and preferences and its iluminating to see highly educated, passionate wine "experts" agree to disagree and have fun and promote their views.
Absolutely terrific show!!
When can Liza return??!!

As a person who lives by research and statistics, I would advise you to trust in the 2% statistic, as I am certain that the cork people have invested quite a lot in that research.

Good show guys..In my experience approximately 1% of the wines that I had were corked. cheers

Gary, fun show. I really enjoyed the cork vs. screw top throw-down. I agree that it doesn't seem possible that 2% of wines are flawed.

QOTD - I decided not to google this to find the answer so I'll just say that I have no idea.

Across the tens of thousands of bottles that WS opens each year, they claim that 7% are corked. However, I agree with you guys, I think that the incidence of noticeable corking is much lower. I've only noticed corking in a few white wines; it's generally harder to pick out in reds. Also, here is a WS video comparing a five-year old chablis bottled each way, a screw cap and cork--exactly the same bottling of the wine. http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpi...

Regarding corked bottles, in my opinion it depends on where the wine comes from and what quality. Buying cheap (but not mass produced) Bordeaux in French supermarkets I have easily gotten 5% corked, if not more. And yes, I do know when a wine is corked. On the other hand in many other regions, especially new world, I rarely have corked wines. As your guest noted, out of Spain and Portugal I often get other "defects" such as Brett or Mercaptans, mostly due to the traditional methods of wine making still in use there. People's ability to perceive these things varies and so it can happen that some people like the wine for the added complexity the defect brings, whilst others find it off putting.

QOTD. No idea, but without Googling I'll guess it's Bananas.

Is it just me or does this episode skip at 26:23?

With all due respect, I love it when Gary just out passions and out knowledges (not on purpose I'm sure) his guests who are wine "experts" in their own right. Crush it baby!

Hmm
* It's Worcestershire sauce - say Woos-ter-sheer
* The reduction talk wasn't really nerdy - it would be nerdy if there was some in depth explanation - Reduction is simply the reverse of oxidation is it not? - The opposite part of the same reaction, the reduced side accepts an electron from the oxidised side. So if you get a wine with reduced aromas, surely exposing it to oxygen (decant it) will remedy the situation - this is what is referred to as smells blowing off isn't it? I don't know, I am not an expert. But if a reduced wines odours simply blow off, what is the problem? Also, aren't wines slighty reduced just pior to bottling? The screwcap just maintains this state - it does not cause it, so wine makers may need to use different techniques when making wined destined for stelvin encolsures.
* Isn't Chateau Margaux doing some experiments with screwcaps - starting with 2002 Pavillon Rouge ? It will be very ineresting to see how that comes out. I also believe there were a lot of experiments done in Australia 20 or 30 years ago.

The last case of white wine I bought had 3 bottles that were corked. My overall experience has been something like 6-8% corked. The last few years I was in the wine business, I noticed quite a sharp increase in corked bottles, either returned by customers (and verified by me), bought for my consumption or even the sales people opening bottles to taste me on & discovering they were corked. Screwcaps have a definite place in the wine world but, unfortunately, truly age worthy wines still need corks in order to mature properly.