The Auswine Forum

Was talking to a friend of mine who recently bought a case of 02 Penfolds 389 and he did not like it nearly as much as other vintages (in June) he had tried. He purchased it in Portland Oregon. I told him it might be suffering from bottle shock but I didnt really know if there were any rules of thumb for when to drink wine after it has been shipped. I travel with 36 bottles in my motor home and wonder if traveling in a coach effects quality much. I have never really noticed any real difference. Only in desert climates it doesnt last as long as on the coast once opened.
I was just wondering if there are any suggestions for when to open after shipment or travel. thanks

You are dealing with two different things here.

Bottle shock and travel shock.

The former can happen when the wine is moved from barrel or tank to bottle. Considering this wine has been out for months and probably was bottled a year ago or longer, bottle shock is unlikely.

Travel shock is a whole different ball of wax. With older wine can be a very real problem. For example, every time I take a 94 Mt Edelstone with me (any real distance) it has not shown well, yet at home they have all been fine. On the other hand, the 91 Lawson and Wynns Centenary travelled through SA with me with no ill effects.

So travel shock can and does happen, but it is unusual with a big, young wine.

So if travel shock degrades the wine is this a permanent thing with older wines or do they return to their pre travel quality with a few days in the cellar?

I believe the addition of sulfur at the time of bottling can also cause "bottle shock".

Bottling does cause wine to close down on both palate and nose. I have tasted our wine in tank just prior to bottling and just after - within 1 hour of each tasting. The wine after bottling is closed and tight. In particular the nose has been damped right down.

Wines bottled under screwcap seem to take much longer to recover than wines under cork. But when they do it's worth it.

2 weeks in the cellar usually cures travel shock

A find travel shock affects older wines that throw a crust. In my circumstances, a wine removed from the cellar in Adelaide, has multiple train, car and plane rides prior to reaching home in Hong Kong.

The crust is cleaned completely from the bottle leaving gritty, tired flavours , muting fruit and leaving dry oak notes prominent.

I leave older wines for 3 to 6 months to recover from jet lag.

Conversely, I have hand carried a few bottles, completely upright for the whole trip and they have travelled OK- recent examples being 15 yo Northern Rhones carried from Hong Kong to Canberra for an offline. There was still some palate grittiness from the sediment being milkshaked.

Some dispute travel shock. In my experience, it has been undisputable in older wine.