Wine Blog & Reviews

What Happens at a Penfolds Red Wine Clinic?

If you scan the Cellarit Wine Market Penfolds Grange page, you will see that quite a few of the bottles carry a note that says “Penfolds Red Wine Clinic.” The Sydney Morning Herald recently featured an article about what exactly happens at the Penfolds Red Wine Clinics, Sarah McInerney, Wine clinics give reds a health check, smh.com.au 3 September 2010. Here’s a few interesting facts:

• Re-corking clinics are for customers with bottles aged 15 or older.
• The bottles don’t have to be Grange. They can be any Penfolds red wine bottle.
• Penfolds winemakers perform the ‘health check’ on the bottles.
• Before the bottles are opened, collectors are asked a series of questions about how they acquired the wine and how well it has been looked after.
• The bottle is assessed to see whether it is a good candidate for re-corking. The ullage or the level of the wine in the neck of the bottle is usually a good indicator as to whether the cork should be changed. If the level is too low, the original cork is typically removed.
• The bottle is opened and the wine is tasted and assessed. It’s then topped up with the current vintage of the same wine and re-corked.
• If it passes the taste test, the winemaker signs a certificate and sticks it on the back of the bottle.
• If it fails, it receives a white dot.

Obviously, collectors are relieved if their wine misses out on a white dot. Penfolds Wine Clinic bottles typically sell at a premium on the secondary market as buyers feel assured that older bottles in particular will not be ‘corked’.

So why would a bottle fail the taste test?  Tasting Wine estimates that 1 percent to 15 percent of wines produced worldwide are tainted, and 1 in 20 bottles suffer from wine taint. Here are the main reasons why wine goes off:

• Cork taint. This occurs when the cork comes into contact with some sort of contaminant that causes it to produce trichloroanisole (TCA). Corked wine containing TCA typically has a dank or musty aroma resembling the smell of a wet dog or dirty socks.
• Improper storage of wine. Wine is a fragile product and ideally should be stored in a dark, cool place around 14  to 15 degrees celsius and 70 per cent relative humidity. Storing wine at temperatures higher or lower may cause the wine to age improperly, especially if poor conditions continue over time.
• Oxidation results when wine comes into contact with the air for an extended period of time. This may be the result of a faulty cork. In general, wine tainted from oxidation appears discoloured. While oxidized reds assume a brownish tint, whites that have undergone oxidation appear more golden yellowish.
• Past its prime.  Not all wine continually improves with ageing. Some wines are meant to be enjoyed within a few years of being bottled while other are designed to age for decades. Wine that is past its prime often tastes bitter or vinegary.

Penfolds holds re-corking clinics in Australia, the US, Canada and parts of Asia. Upcoming clinics will be held in Melbourne on September 8 and 9 and Perth on September 15. The Penfolds website has a very interesting video about what happens at the re-corking clinics.