"Hint of TCA" but I'll score it anyway. RPJ!!

[JDSJDS]

Definitely cool here, but not bitterly cold so far. At 9:30pm, it's about -5. There's about 20 cm of snow on the ground. Whites aren't seeing a lot of action right about now!

I'm sipping on a Rosemount Traditional 1999 tonight. A warming red indeed, as it's quite big, with somwaht drying tannins at the end. Lots of blackfruits and a hint of tarry oak too.

I'm definitely jealous of your summer temps right now.

Happy New Year to all!

[KMP]

It's just that Parker-bashing is almost too easy now... The Internet seems so rife with it (other than the ebob site, which I agree is really sycophantic), and now the attacks seem increasingly strident and narrow. Surely he can still be attacked on the big issues, like his monolithic taste, and his effect on the homogenization (globalization) of wine styles that suit his palate!!!

I agree that scoring a wine you feel to be tainted is somewhat bizarre, but I also admit I've occasionally noted something like, "I think this was slightly corked, but some nice x and y flavours were poking out, and it was still a reasonable wine". I look at corked wines as a continuum rather than an absolute 'corked' or 'not corked' proposition. We've probably all commented on a wine that was corked very slightly, but we didn't realize it!

Also, many other critics have done the same thing, with Laube from the WS perhaps most famously doing it in last year's tasting of several California cabernets (e.g., Montenela). But they don't recieve the same wrath. I guess it just highlights the primary position Parker occupies right now, for good or ill.

Having said all that, you certainly have the right to complain if you don't like any mention of corked wines! I just didn't see it as much of a transgression (as long as the taint is acknowledged).

The taint in the Ch. Montelena wines was apparently not from cork. Bo Barrett (their winemaker) actually said that the TCA was part of the winery's "house style" and that it was present in most of the wines at a low level. TCA "may have been one of the components of our wines dating back to the 1970s," he said, "especially when the wines weren't fruity." See http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Daily ... 76,00.html. (Hmmm, Ok so the link probably won't work unless you have subscription to WS. Google "chateau moltelena" and the url should be down toward the bottom of the first page - clicking on it should open it - it did for me and I don't have sub.)

My original post in this thread was a tongue-in-cheek comment on the RJP post, but as has been found in several other wineries over here (and almost certainly elsewhere) taint from TCA and related compounds ain't just a cork problem; any wine with a musty odor (e.g. a number of cheap French wines that I've tasted) should be suspect.

IMHO if TCA taint is recorded in a TN then the wine should be considered faulty. If it occurs in multiple bottles of the same wine then tell the winery because they may well have a problem that needs to be addressed. This is especially advisable if the taster is not overly sensitive to TCA but does note a musty character.

Mike