1992 Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 4:03 am

An odd bottle from a mixed auction lot bought a couple of years ago.

Decanted a few minutes ago - a very tight cork of length 1.75"

Taking an oblique slice from the inside edge of the cork, I find the wine staining goes no more than 0.5mm into the cork. This, presumably, leaves very little scope for TCA tainting.

Colour very dark, as one expects from Vesuvio; but very little sediment - just a tablespoon of soup.

First sip - mute bouquet, and on the palate - aggressive! - really very fiery, and totally lacking in composure, but not necessarily a bad bottle - a classic 'Kevin' perhaps.

See how it develops..

More anon..

Tom

Alan C. · Post by **Alan C.** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:16 am

Tom,

Go on, whats a 'kevin'?
Dont tell me you've invented names, as well as your own scoring system.

Alan

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 11:47 am

Alan, why are you surprised?

Taking an oblique slice from the inside edge of the cork, I find the wine staining goes no more than 0.5mm into the cork.

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 1:04 pm

Alan C wrote:Tom,

Go on, whats a 'kevin'?

Alan

I was wondering the same thing.

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 4:26 pm

Alan,

You disappoint me - I can understand why our cousins over the pond would miss this reference but how can you not make the leap between a spotty, brooding, unrefined teenager and the name Kevin? Where were you in the 1990's?

PM me if you still can't get it to avoid further public humiliation :?

Derek

Alan C. · Post by **Alan C.** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 7:35 pm

Ahhh!

Harry Enfield! So the drink has turned from a pleasant child into a troublesome teenager???
Now I get it, but sometimes you need a clue!

Alan

Todd Pettinger · Post by **Todd Pettinger** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 5:59 am

So I'm off on both the reference to "Kevin" (TV show in the UK???) and the acronym TCA. I figure something-something Acid or Acidity??

Uncle Tom? A helping hand for us dumb-dumbs across the pond??

Thanks,

Todd

Alan C. · Post by **Alan C.** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 6:26 am

Todd,

It is an obscure Comic Character from the show, Harry Enfield and his Chums.

TCA is a cork problem. 'Corked' is a term that is used to describe a chemical reaction which causes a wine to be tainted by a substance known as TCA (trichloroanisole) which is found in the lower portion of the bark of cork trees.

Basically, good quality corks come from high up the tree and cheap corks come from areas with thin bark and close to the ground, where TCA is present. When such corks are used they occassionally impart the TCA into the wine causing it to be tainted (Dont they Derek?)

Alan

Todd Pettinger · Post by **Todd Pettinger** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 7:16 am

Alan,

Thanks for the help. I did see your earlier reference to Harry Enfield, but thought that just might be more insider stuff! :)

As far as TCA - now I know - thanks! I am sure that as I try more and more VPs I will come across this myself, but hopefully that day is far enough off in the future! 8)

Todd

nicos neocleous · Post by **nicos neocleous** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 7:24 am

Derek Turnbull wrote:Alan,

You disappoint me - I can understand why our cousins over the pond would miss this reference but how can you not make the leap between a spotty, brooding, unrefined teenager and the name Kevin? Where were you in the 1990's?

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 7:53 am

A slight delay to my reports here due to AOL messing up my computer...

I'm sure we've used the term 'Kevin' before here - oh well...

A day on and the wine has gained a little composure, but to be honest, it looks smells and tastes like a cheap basic Ruby - not a class act in any way. It has an odd - slightly soapy - aftertaste, which is rather unpleasant.

It is very tannic still and a long way short of maturity, but whether it will bloom in a few years time - or just wither away - is hard to judge.

To score:

For immediate gratification, this one of the worst wines I've encountered in recent months - but it is drinkable - so it gets a 1

Where's it going? Hopefully a little better, but I can't see this becoming a star. I'll be optimistic though...

My score: 1-3

Tom

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 1:36 am

Taking an oblique slice from the inside edge of the cork, I find the wine staining goes no more than 0.5mm into the cork

I have to agree with Roy's highlighting of this very strange behaviour. Surely most people would take a straight slice and not an oblique slice?

I've only had this particular Vesuvio vintage once, but I experienced a very different wine. Mine was tannic, dark and brooding (perhaps going through its teenage Goth phase) but had huge volumes of fresh fruits and fully integrated alcohol.

Any idea if the bottle had been spoiled through poor storage? Have you tried any of the other wines from the same parcel?

Alex

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:43 am

I took an oblique slice because I was using a scalpel to get a clean cut - the blade is not big enough to cut through the whole cork.

The bottle was one of six Vesuvios that were sold as a vertical - I've had no problems with the other bottles, and I can't detect any obvious storage related defects.

If the bottle had been labelled 'Cockburn's finest Ruby' there would be no issue!

Tom

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 1:30 am

TCA is a cork problem. 'Corked' is a term that is used to describe a chemical reaction which causes a wine to be tainted by a substance known as TCA (trichloroanisole) which is found in the lower portion of the bark of cork trees.

Basically, good quality corks come from high up the tree and cheap corks come from areas with thin bark and close to the ground, where TCA is present. When such corks are used they occassionally impart the TCA into the wine causing it to be tainted (Dont they Derek?)

Athough the above is "partially correct" it is important to know that the cleaning method of equipment and the corks themselves are often to blame for the wine being corked. There have been numerous reports of entire wineries' output being tainted by TCA that had ZERO to do with the cork itself. The list is long but if you want to read for yourself, check out Gallo and Hanzell as just two of many examples, where bleach was blamed for contamination of the winery and the TCA found in their products. In the past, corks were often times bleach tumbled which was believed to sterilize the corks. However it led to the growth of TCA in many batches of corks. That practice is now fortunately, almost extinct.

If you are interested enough and want to learn more, here is a good basic primer on TCA: http://www.winepros.org/wine101/vincyc-tca.htm

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:05 am

Alan,

Despite Roy's helpful clarification, I think you are to be congratulated for your explanation of what "corked" means, especially given that you have only been studying the subject of wine/port for a few weeks

Derek

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:08 am

Yes, hear hear!

A few weeks? YIKES.

Todd Pettinger · Post by **Todd Pettinger** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:50 am

Now THIS gentlemen, is why I frequent this site. The 'collective port wisdom' found here (even from the "newbies") is amazing. Thanks again!

Todd