Removing cork-taint from wine

The use of polyethylene, in the form of food-grade cling-film to remove trichloroanisole (TCA) cork taint from wine became a fad in the past year, capped by the release of a French-produced kit called Dream Taste, according to Huon Hooke in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The inventors claim their kit, which consists of a decanter and a bunch of grapes, will removee the TCA which, they say, affects 5 to 10 per cent of cork-sealed bottled wine. The grapes take about an hour to filter out the TCA.

The Australian Wine Research Institute has publised a paper on the removal of TCA using polyethylene. A researcher on the project claims that whilst the polyethylend removes the TCA it also removes other constituents and dulls the wine. However, a dull wine is arguably better than a cork-tainted wine!

Nepenthe Sauvignon Blanc

Huon Hooke in today's Sydney Morning Herald Good Living section had this to say about the 2005 Nepenthe Sauvignon Blanc:

"The Adelaide Hills have made this grape thier own, and Nepenthe shines. Pale greenish; delicate gooseberry and fresh herb aromas; light, refreshing palate with good intensity of ripe fruit, well balanced. Drink now. Silver medal at the Hills wine show."

It sounds like a wine that will go very nicely with seafood this summer!

'03 Seppelts St Peters Grampians Shiraz

The '86 Grange was followed by an '03 St Peters Grampians Shiraz. The color was deep red/dark cherry with a nose of peppery, spicy, big berry fuits, along with some savory notes and a hint of nutmeg.

The palate showed more of the spicy fruit, fine tannins, licorice and chocolate bullets with a long finish. (You probably need to be an Aussie to know about chocolate bullets!).

That's a wine to add to the cellar when the budget allows.