The Auswine Forum

back to corked wine - have been assiduously contacting every producer of anything corked I happen to run across - Primo Estate were amazing in their helpfulness & generosity - had a corked 1991 Joseph Moda Amarone that I'd been carefully cellaring - they sent me a replacment of the same vintage - and would you believe it - the REPLACEMENT WAS CORKED! Sent it back under my own steam asking for comments - they agreed, sending me a 1994 Joseph AND a 2001 Joseph (if these turn out to be corked, I'll jump under a train).
Ralph Fowler was similarly straightforward - sending me a current RF Limestone Coast Shiraz in place of the TCA-afflicted 1997 that I'd contacted him about, without insisting on its return or any other hassles.
Southcorp were a bit more work, but came good in the end - had pulled a no. of aged Pennies from the cellar for a spec. Sunday lunch, inc. a 1988 St Henri & a 1991 Bin 28 Kalimna, both of which were unfortunately spit-out-of-mouth material; they sent me a courier return-paid winepak into which I placed the corked bottles & sent to them - verdict - clear TCA taint in both. Customer Relations then contacted me offering a replacement by way of current releases (2000 Bin 28 & 1999 St Henri) which I didn't really think was good enough for treasured bottles I'd carefully cellared for many years - with a bit of to-ing & fro-ing, they finally sent me 2 older vintage Bin 28's & the 1999 St Henri, which I felt was a satisfactory outcome. Got to admire the professional & speedy pre-paid courier packs & the accurate feedback.
Bravo to all concerned! Wonder if I'll ever get a replacement for the corked Virgin Hills I contacted that winery multiple times about??

Hey whats the deal with the prepaid courier pack?
never heard of them and I usually end up forking out for the wine to go back and end up out of pocket.
These days I have decided to ring or email and if they want the wine back I ask them to pay for it.
btw good call on the replacements of the pennies- 2000 is hardly sufficient for something you have cellared and nurtured.

I agree - I chase hard on the replacement of corked wine and so far have always come up trumps no matter how loooooong it takes.
michel

Similar response from Ashbrook recently. Opened a bottle at a bordeaux style tasting of Cabernet blend, and had some bad H2S issues. one call to the winery and sent me out a bottle of the vintage that i had no questions asked. Great Service.

Brett

Hey Michel - Southcorp is the only producer I've come across who, as a matter of everyday procedure, sends out styrofoam Winepaks with a courier bag, prepaid & addressed to themselves, as soon as a customer contacts them about a corked bottle. They want the offending articles sent to them quick as poss, presumably to analyse the remaining wine for TCA presence or other faults. Their feedback is quick & detailed. Even if they don't find evidence of TCA, they send something back (even if not the same wine as you send them) as a gesture of good faith. Very professional all round.
Like you, I usually ask that the winery I'm contacting about a corked bottle pays for freight, but I don't press it - if I think it'll jeopardise my chances of obtaining a good replacement, I'll pay to send the bottle back myself. Out of about 30 wine producers I've approached over the past couple of years re TCA, only VIRGIN HILLS has failed to send me something as compensation.