Returning a bad bottle of wine

Corked wine is caused by the substance TCA which is produced by a mould in the cork. It varies in severity from giving a lack of freshness, or slight off flavours to being downright undrinkable. Reputedly the number of corked bottles is put at 1 in 20, although I think that figure is a little high, maybe one or two in a hundred. In the UK if a wine is corked it can be returned to the supplier for full credit (although if it has been in your cellar for some time this may be difficult!)
There are other reasons for wine being off, such as oxidation, but corked wine is the most common offender.
Tartrate crystals are no indicator of anything at all except that there are tartrate crystals. I remember a couple of years ago picking up several cases of excellent wine very cheaply from my local supplier who could not sell it because of heavy tartrate deposits.
You should always be shown the label of the wine before it is poured (preferably before it is opened) to confirm that this is indeed the wine you ordered. If the wine is not opened in your presence the cork should always be brought to show that it matches the bottle from which it was (allegedly) extracted (a small safeguard against substitution).
When offered a sample a simple sniff should be enough to tell if a wine is corked, although in borderline cases you may need to taste as well.
If the bottle which arrives is what you ordered and the wine is not "off" in any way then you have no right to send it back. If you just don't like it, tough. If it's too young or too old then that's your problem for picking it (unless your host has given you assurance otherwise). If it's not what you expected then learn more about wine (or stick to what you know).
Over the years I have sent back wine of assorted "quality" in restaurants from the finest in the world to the Mom & Pop places and I have never had any problem with management - the odd inexperienced waiter has sometimes been a bit concerned that they had done something wrong, but I always point out that it is "just one of those things". The only time there was total bafflement when I was at a wine tasting at the Biltmore estate in N.C. where one of their own wines was clearly (and very badly) corked. I pointed this out, and they looked for bits of cork (found none!) and then looked at me as if I were from another planet! I couldn't persuade them to sniff or taste it, or replace it (all the bottles are the same sir!). Considering they were actually trying to sell the stuff it didn't seem too clever!

[Papa]

Dear Britcook:

That was a great explenation of the 'wine problem". I have experienced the same with olive oil. When I receive a shipment of olive oil from a producer I always taste and analyze three different bottles. I have found that in a shipment of let's say 700 bottles there will be at least five bottles that do not taste right.

It was embarassing but in my olive oil tasting this month with Cape Chef at the Mystic Cooking School, my favorite olive oil bottle that I had brought with me had a similar problem. The olive oil was still good enough to stand out from the rest but to me, who knew what it should really taste like, it tasted inferior to its true quality. Unfortunately, it would not have been appropriate to bring previously opened bottles to the School.

Coming back to wine, I have to say that when I order wine at a restaurant I always ask the waiter to taste it first and give me his opinion. This little test tells me a lot about the restaurant.

[DaveB]

My younger brother has worked as maitre d' or manager in a number of upscale New YOrk City area restaurants. In one place, the problem with people ordering and returning expensive wines to impress thier guests became so acute that wines above a certain price were served only with the approval of the manager.

Is this a New YOrk problem or has everyone run into it?

[cape chef]

People eat with there eyes,so I understand while some may be concerned about seeing tartaric crystel deposits on there cork. But..you need not worry.Tartrates do not at all effect the flavor of wine,and if a wine does not go through a cold stabilization you might find these crytsels.tartaric acid is one of three acids found in wine,malic,citric and tartaric.All intrinsic of the grape and tartaric being the predominant acid.I also have sent back wines that have been corked,and in every case there was not a problem from managment.Also to another theory that was posted on tartaric acid forming from holding tempatures,is not correct.the over exposure to heat and coolness and back and forth will basiclly destroy the nouances of the wine and will dry them out...I have had many older fine wines with a low shoulder ullage that where outstanding,But you don't want to come across a young wine with ullage,this can mean a faulty cork. I think as proffessinals we must take the lead to educate the public on wine.We should not offer a fine wine selection in a restaurant if we do not fully understand what we are selling.The best part of learning in this areana is we get to taste
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