We've all heard it, someone claiming 'this bottle is not as good as the last time I had it' or similar. In fact, it's probably happened to us all - we've taken along a special bottle of a wine that we've loved previously, talked it up, and then been strangely disappointed when we open it. For whatever reason, it just isn't the wine it was last time.
Proving that it can happen with the very best of wines, the maker of a $2,500 bottle of 1996 La Tache, pronounced to a room of wine lovers that it wasn't tasting quite as it should, and ‘would we mind if we opened another?'. Not that there was anything perceptibly wrong with this one - it wasn't corked or affected by TCA (sometimes called cork taint), it wasn't oxidised or otherwise obviously faulty, but it just didn't taste quite as it should. Another bottle was opened and poured and was an improvement on the first.
This got me thinking - what if I had ordered this bottle at a restaurant? Would I have known enough, or had the gumption, to send it back and request another? I admit that I wouldn't. After all, what could I say? There wasn't anything wrong with it as such, it just wasn't showing its full potential.
In fact, I wouldn't have even known this, having not tried this particular wine before. I just would have drunk it, and then wondered what the fuss was about. After all, it was fine. Very nice even. But it wasn't a life-altering experience, as I’d expect from one of the world's most famous wines from one of its greatest vintages. However the second bottle did offer something akin to its reputation.
Each bottle is unique.I am certain that this situation is far more common than people realise. We all know by now that a certain small percentage of wines sealed under cork are TCA affected. And then there is the matter of heat-affected wine, something all too common in our climate.
Plus there's the fact that under different environmental circumstances, the same wine will taste slightly different. Temperature and humidity play a major role in how a wine's taste is perceived. Not to mention how the wine has matured given different environmental circumstances.
So what does this all mean to you, the consumer? I suppose the most important point is that bottles of wine, for a variety of reasons, will sometimes differ from one to the next, and this is not always the fault of the wine. However, many wines do suffer from faults to varying degrees. Closures are not always consistent, and two bottles from the same box that have been stored together all their lives may taste slightly different from each other.
If a wine is faulty, it should be replaced. But different people have differing levels of perception to most faults. Each bottle is unique. Enjoy them for what they are.
