It was not a case of insufficient wine for a dinner. With replacement and backup bottles in place and standing by just in case any of them decide to go rogue for good, the sum worked out to the quantity of 1 bottle per person for a 7-course dinner. But still we, well actually JL (my very adventurous and curious wine buddy), could not help but wondered why 2 opened and corked-back bottles were sitting by themselves on a different table. As it turned out, these 2 bottles of Montrachet that were unsuitable to serve for dinner because one was slight corked and the other was slightly oxidised.
But JL was drinking faster than services could keep up decided that we should give one of them a try. The decision was to taste the corked wine over the oxidised. The logic was if the wine was just slightly corked, the constantly swirling and some patience might dissipate the corked aroma and the wine might come back to life. Personally, I have not encountered one that did. But I hope I have the experience to tasted beyond the corkiness. And I am still trying.
Here is a glimpse (with my handwriting) of the wines we had that evening. It seemed none of the good Olivier Leflaive Puligny Montrachet was available for dinner. Our replacement was the Louis Jadot 1999 Mersault Goutte-D’or.
asueba 