“An oak barrel brings value to a wine, but cork is perceived as potentially causing a problem with your wine… – …why is that?”
Antonio Amorim – yes, that Amorim!

This was published on Friday when I was traveling – it mandated comment.

My first reaction was ‘Good!‘
My second reaction was ‘About Time!‘
My third reaction was ‘But really, why has this taken so long? And, and…‘

The more I think about this, the more that my thoughts move from positive to negative. Of-course I am jaded by the loss of so many precious bottles – over many years – not forgetting those bottles in my cellar that are still waiting to bring me the sharp pain of aromatic disappointment.

So this is no solution for me – why? Because, aged 56, I now buy almost nothing for my cellar – it is well-enough stocked for the next 20 years of drinking – because of that, many bottles that I own – particularly in those most horrible years of non-existant quality control (for TCA) between 1996 and 2000 – I expect to lose at least 10% to cork problems – and that’s only the reds…

Cork Problems? – yes it’s plural – it’s not just TCA. There are other unwanted aromas, plus the highly variable rates of oxygen transport – as legions of dead, oxidised whites will testify – it’s not simply about TCA, which empirically (for me) now hovers at ‘only’ about 2-3% – but as stated, for a wider range of cork-related issues, the amount of lost bottles is higher than that number.

DIAM has been a solution since 2004 – a solution that is 95% cork-based – thus protecting the livelihoods of cork producers. TCA-free cork that does not sufficiently address other off-compounds, or the outright non-protection of a majority of white wine, dead in 10 years or less, will be no solution. I would be much more interested in what Antonio has to say about subjects other than TCA.

Practically, for many ‘older’ buyers – only better is no solution at all…