Good Girls, Bad Wine

Alright, I’ll be the first to admit that there have been times I, when enjoying a nice dinner with my cohorts, have ordered a second…or third…or more bottle of wine…again with my cohorts.   When we find a wine we like, we continue to order the same one.  A good server will have you try each one first prior to pouring for the table.  We have encountered a situation at a nice restaurant that by the fourth..er…fifth…bottle, the server just poured it without having one of us taste it.   I’ll be honest, when a server waits on our table of ladies, he or she runs the risk of carpal tunnel from opening so many bottles so I get how they can grow tired of the process.   Sure enough, three of us tasted it and wondered if something was wrong and sure enough it was.  We sent it back.  In a more recent situation, there was table of us ladies who ordered a second bottle of wine, with the server having us taste it first, and discovered it was bad as well.   Even with all things being equal – brand, varietal, year, method of storage, etc – a bottle of wine can just go bad.    Mary Burnham, author of the Food & Wine Magazine Annual Guide to Wine, provides the reasons wine can go bad due to things like oxidation, bacteria or even too little oxygen.  She also documents what a bad wine might taste or smell like.   The article is listed on the La Crema website shown below and is good to note.      

Here is to your having a good wine and a good rest of the week and weekend!