Yet another cork taint thread

I don't seem to have the same percentage of corked bottles that others report so have assumed that my threshold level for detection is higher than most. Yet I have noticed that when I do get a corked bottle I generally get a second or more the worst case being 7 in a row. This happened again last night and it has me wondering if it is possible that once I get a really corked bottle of wine I become sensitized to it and am now detecting cork taint in bottles that I otherwise would not have pegged as corked. Anyone else experience the same thing and does this even make sense?

[David M. Bueker]

I have heard some folks having trouble getting the taste of "corked" out of their mouths/nasal passages. That might be it. Try eating something to clear the system before trying another wine.

I've never had a run of more than 3 in a row & I am very cork sensitive.

I don't seem to have the same percentage of corked bottles that others report so have assumed that my threshold level for detection is higher than most. Yet I have noticed that when I do get a corked bottle I generally get a second or more the worst case being 7 in a row. This happened again last night and it has me wondering if it is possible that once I get a really corked bottle of wine I become sensitized to it and am now detecting cork taint in bottles that I otherwise would not have pegged as corked. Anyone else experience the same thing and does this even make sense?

Brian-
FWIW, I've experienced much the same thing. Corked wines seem to run in streaks. Coincidence? Sumthin' else?
BP

I have heard some folks having trouble getting the taste of "corked" out of their mouths/nasal passages. That might be it. Try eating something to clear the system before trying another wine.

Interesting but having thought some about different instances I don't think this is my issue. I have had this happen with and without having eaten/drank something else in-between the two bottles. Likewise there have been some times when the second bottle does not taste corked even if opened immediately after the first. Most telling was at a wine dinner where my glass was poured from one bottle and my wifes from another. I immediately noted mine was corked and asked to try hers which was tasted fine.

I am pretty sure that if one bottle in a case is corked there are increased probabilities that others in the same case (or another case delivered at the same time) are. It is true from personal experience, and it is easy to explain in terms of bad batches of corks.

Beyond that I suspect that statistical clustering has a lot to do with it. We usually expect random events to be a lot more spread out than they are in reality, and often think we can discern patterns in randomness.

I am pretty sure that if one bottle in a case is corked there are increased probabilities that others in the same case (or another case delivered at the same time) are. It is true from personal experience, and it is easy to explain in terms of bad batches of corks.

Beyond that I suspect that statistical clustering has a lot to do with it. We usually expect random events to be a lot more spread out than they are in reality, and often think we can discern patterns in randomness.

What I am experiencing can not be explained by one producer getting a bad batch of corks. Generally if I open a bottle from one producer that is corked I will pull a replacement from a completely different producer.

Clustering could explain it but the coorelation from the first bottle being corked to the second bottle being corked I believe is rather high. I have not been keeping any type of record but from memory I would guess that if the first bottle is corked there is about a 66%-75% chance that the second bottle will be corked also.

[David M. Bueker]

Are you using a different glass? If not, how do you clean the glass that had the corked wine?

Also check out where you store the glassware. I have a cabinet that imparts a weird, old wood odor to glasses, so I no longer use it.

Are you using a different glass? If not, how do you clean the glass that had the corked wine?

Over the past couple years I have made sure to use a different glass as I had started to notice this trend. Before that it was hit or miss. If I did use the same glass it was most likely just rinsed twice with filtered water (I have a well) and then a wipe out with a lint free towel.

Also check out where you store the glassware. I have a cabinet that imparts a weird, old wood odor to glasses, so I no longer use it.

I have one of those also but we don't use it for wine glasses. I have so many wine glasses that I use two different cabinets and a hanging rack. No apparent coorelation to the glass or where it was stored.

[David M. Bueker]

Ok - clearly you have the worst luck of any wine drinker in history.