Just bad luck?

#wineWednesday and a fruit day. After a day of writing about perceived wine faults for Wine Cellar Club, I was ready to enjoy a glass in the evening.

I'd had a couple of days without drop and fancied something nice.

I opened nice Italian Pinot Nero that had been on the rack a few months. It was to be the first time of using my new Pinot Noir Riedel glasses for the correct grape.

Flat, dull, lacking in fruit. Clear signs of cork taint and, a very unpleasant glassful.

I briefly toyed with the idea that the musty smell would pass, but in the end, poured it down the sink, after 10 minutes of wishing it were different.

Life's too short to drink bad wine.

The biodynamic calendar advises on the days when wines will be at their best

With Mr Purple Teeth away, I opted to open a Cune Reserva Rioja I had bought during the Waitrose fine wine event. The wine is currently reduced by 25% so I figured I could add a bottle to my next shop if it was as good as I'd remembered.

I'd most recently had the Gran Reserva from Cune.

The horror, the horror.

I removed the foil emblazoned with the 91 Parker Point rating to reveal a black mouldy cork. I feared the worst.

After 4 months without a corked wine, would I have 2 in one night?

In my role as associate judge at last week's International Wine Challenge, I had come across a few corked wines, including one which went on to be nominated for a Gold medal after a new bottle was opened.

Good quality is no guarantee against cork taint. Where there is cork there is a chance.

However, this was clearly a storage issue. The outside of the cork was filthy, but appearances can be deceptive.

I delicately removed the cork, and cleaned with some kitchen towel around the rim of the bottle.

I poured.

No trace of taint. Phew!

I'm not sure that the wine is in perfect condition however. I'd struggle to award it the 91 points that Parker did (which would be an IWC silver). It is a good reserva style Rioja and I would probably have judged it as bronze.

It won't go down the sink, and my fruit day is saved.

Once again, appearances can be deceptive. The Pinot cork looked perfect but the wine was undrinkable.

Remember, it's worth tasting to be on the safe side.

Now it's time I enjoyed the rest of the glass and relaxed rather than writing any more.

Cheers!

Written & published via an iPhone while drinking the wine - apologies for any poor formatting or typos which I'll correct when I get to a PC