The Auswine Forum

Dear team
On Xmas day I opened a 2006 Ata Rangi Pinot (80 bucks from Winestar) as it was 35 degrees outside and too hot for a big red. However on first tasting the wine I found it a bit one dimensional, lacking any layers, fruit or the depth that I would normally associate with a quality NZ pinot. So I thought it needed decanting - 2 hours in a decanter didn't seem to help much and the wine did not improve significantly. I then poured it back into the bottle and vacuuvinned it and put it in the fridge.

The next day I tried it and found it hard going once again. As it warmed up it developed a few black cherry/anise flavours but I could sometimes get a touch of really nice fruit if I had a drop or 2 just on the front of my tongue. Any more than that tasted like wet cardboard and the combination had me fantasizing about licking Angelina's armpits - kind of sensual but dank.

I now have a number of questions - what is the fault? It can't be cork taint as the wine is a screwcap - is it brett or something else? What should I do about it - has anyone had experiences trying to send bottles back to Winestar or contacting Ata Rangi? The wine was cellared in a Kitchener from the moment it arrived at my door.

Any suggestions

Thanks

Luke

Luke, that's a weird fantasy...

Send a copy of your post to Bert at Winestar, they certainly are good at replacing faulty wine, but this is a bit ill-defined. I have no idea what the problem could be but he might be feeling generous after a bumper Christmas season.
BTW it's what happened to the wine before it arrived at your door that's the unknown. One reason I try not to have much wine delivered over Summer of buy wine delivered over summer to some merchants.

Thanks Red

I've sent it off to Bert and I hope he's in a good mood - do you have any idea what could cause this fault?

Luke

Just because it is under screwcap doesn't mean it isn't TCA. Muted fruit and wet cardboard sounds like TCA to me. However the Angelina hallucination brings in the possibility of LSD

Hi Luke, having read your post 've gone back to my notes frm a September tasting of this wine and yours sounds completely different - something doesn't sound right. It does sound like TCA despite the screwcap. This is rare but possible. If it were me I'd politely pursue this with the retailer in question,

cheers

Andrew

Good News!

Thanks to Brian's suggestion I sent the blog to Bert at Winestar. I got a reply almost immediately indicating that he would credit my Winestar account. Great service - thanks Brian, thanks Bert. Apparently although it's rare, as Davo and Andrew mentioned, TCA can affect bottles under screwcap (u learn something new every day). I'll try to go easy on the lsd, Davo - but sometimes the fantasies are worth it .......

cheers

Luke

It's probably worth mentioning Luke (and everyone else for that matter) that our generous forum host Gavin isn't doing this just out of the goodness of his heart - he is running his own online wine business (check the auswine.com.au banner in the top left hand corner of the page).

While Bert is a good friend of Gavin (and the forum) he is also a direct competitor, so in all politeness/fairness to Gavin the mention of direct competitors (especially the specifics of what they're selling) should be kept to a bare minimum (considering that the mention of Auswine in the other place would be pretty much zapped immediately for similar reasons).

Cheers,
Ian

and I thought we were just a big happy family.......

point taken Ian

Sorry Gav

I see no problem in you posting this type of enquiry - it's purely based on wine taint questions... doesn't really matter where the wine came from, does it!?

In response to your problem, yes TCA can affect some screwcap wines but it's very unlikely. It sounds like the wine has expressed a dislike for having been mistreated, possibly with high then low temperatures (this mutes fruit aromas / flavours), but the wet cardboard has me pondering. I wonder if some of the French Oak barrels Ata Rangi used in 06 were tainted? Hmmm...

Daniel Jess wrote:I see no problem in you posting this type of enquiry - it's purely based on wine taint questions... doesn't really matter where the wine came from, does it!?

As I said, at the other place quite often in the past just the mere mention of the name of a possible competitor (be it an online or regular retailer) would be quickly deleted by the moderators.

Gavin's always been a lot more lenient, but someone has to draw the line somewhere - even though I'm sure Luke's intentions are honest enough, when you go through this thread about the only thing missing to further advertise this direct competitor is a link to their website. It's one thing to say where you got something from, but when the post goes on to reveal details of pricing and customer service I think things have gone too far.

Yes it is a pretty much big happy family here, but it would also pay not to bite the hand that feeds us either.

Cheers,
Ian

n4sir wrote:

Daniel Jess wrote:I see no problem in you posting this type of enquiry - it's purely based on wine taint questions... doesn't really matter where the wine came from, does it!?

As I said, at the other place quite often in the past just the mere mention of the name of a possible competitor (be it an online or regular retailer) would be quickly deleted by the moderators.

Gavin's always been a lot more lenient, but someone has to draw the line somewhere - even though I'm sure Luke's intentions are honest enough, when you go through this thread about the only thing missing to further advertise this direct competitor is a link to their website. It's one thing to say where you got something from, but when the post goes on to reveal details of pricing and customer service I think things have gone too far.

Yes it is a pretty much big happy family here, but it would also pay not to bite the hand that feeds us either.

Cheers,
Ian

I thought this one was Ok, but it's really up to Gavin.

The policy at StarForum relaxed re this Forum a long time ago, see this thread from 2006: http://www.winestar.com.au/forum/viewto ... ht=auswine
A search for Auswine there returns 3 pages of threads...

Luke W wrote:had me fantasizing about licking Angelina's armpits - kind of sensual but dank.

Dude, one too many me thinks, one too many...

Happy Holidays...

Monghead.

If it was TCA from a barrel, it would have affected more than this bottle. All barrels are blended before bottling.
I've had the 06 Ata Rangi and it was sensational. No indication of TCA to me.

But cannot discount a fault on the bottling line at the time this particular bottle was filled.

i had a bottle of this a couple of months ago. it wasn't as good as i remembered it unfortunately. one of those things. many reasons why i guess. im hoping my next one is better!

monghead wrote:

Luke W wrote:had me fantasizing about licking Angelina's armpits - kind of sensual but dank.

Dude, one too many me thinks, one too many...

Happy Holidays...

Monghead.

and I thought it was a pretty good analogy....

you have a great break too, mate

I've had this wine on release and again recently and it's looking excellent. Would be VERY surprised if it was corked....almost impossible. Most likely to have been cooked on the way up...esp. if you are in central QLD. What time of year did you order it/was it shipped?
GW

Red Bigot wrote:

n4sir wrote:

Daniel Jess wrote:I see no problem in you posting this type of enquiry - it's purely based on wine taint questions... doesn't really matter where the wine came from, does it!?

As I said, at the other place quite often in the past just the mere mention of the name of a possible competitor (be it an online or regular retailer) would be quickly deleted by the moderators.

Gavin's always been a lot more lenient, but someone has to draw the line somewhere - even though I'm sure Luke's intentions are honest enough, when you go through this thread about the only thing missing to further advertise this direct competitor is a link to their website. It's one thing to say where you got something from, but when the post goes on to reveal details of pricing and customer service I think things have gone too far.

Yes it is a pretty much big happy family here, but it would also pay not to bite the hand that feeds us either.

Cheers,
Ian

I thought this one was Ok, but it's really up to Gavin.

The policy at StarForum relaxed re this Forum a long time ago, see this thread from 2006: http://www.winestar.com.au/forum/viewto ... ht=auswine
A search for Auswine there returns 3 pages of threads...

I noticed it, but I'm fine with it.

Seemed a legitimate request, and mentions Winestar as that was where purchased, so no problems from my end.

.
Anyway, I was sure that Bert would assist, good retailers do!

.

Gary W wrote:I've had this wine on release and again recently and it's looking excellent. Would be VERY surprised if it was corked....almost impossible. Most likely to have been cooked on the way up...esp. if you are in central QLD. What time of year did you order it/was it shipped?
GW

Dear Gary

I got the wine in late April/early May so it's unlikely that the wine would have been exposed to much heat in transit - but who's to say when it was shipped to Australia. Sometimes I get large quantities and some of the top/outside wines have suffered in the hotter months but this was just a single 6 pack and it was couriered pretty quickly. Nowadays I mainly get wine from March to September to avoid the heat. Does heat give the same effect as TCA or would it more likely oxidize the wine and turn it vinegary over 8 months?

cheers

Luke

Heat with a screwcap won't oxidise the wine or compromise the seal. It will just boil all the flavour out..it's a theory. Best we have at present.
GW

Gary W wrote:Heat with a screwcap won't oxidise the wine or compromise the seal. It will just boil all the flavour out..it's a theory. Best we have at present.
GW

And boil "wet cardboard" flavour in ???