Wet Cardboard Complaint in a Chablis Flight
At 21:40 on a Friday, table 12 in a 90-cover restaurant orders a 2019 Chablis Premier Cru from a 120-bin list. The guest, a regular who spends €400 per visit, says the wine smells of 'wet cardboard' and asks for a replacement. The sommelier smells the glass: a faint musty note, but also a struck-match reductive character; the wine is a natural-cork closure and is the second bottle from a six-bottle case. The first bottle sold last week without complaint. The restaurant's policy is to replace corked bottles without argument, but the manager suspects the guest may be confusing reduction with cork taint and does not want to open a second €68 bottle if the first is sound. The sommelier has a clean ISO tasting glass, a decanter, and no laboratory kit. The guest is becoming impatient, and the kitchen is holding a turbot course. The by-the-glass programme also uses the same producer's entry-level Chablis, which has had two oxidized bottles this month.
1. How should the sommelier distinguish TCA, reduction, and oxidation at the table, and what is the decision rule for replacement?
Read the worked answer
The sommelier should pour a fresh sample into a clean ISO glass, smell it, swirl, wait two to three minutes, and smell again. TCA is typically musty, damp cardboard, or mouldy newspaper at 2–4 ng/L and does not blow off with air; it often intensifies as the wine warms. Reduction shows struck match, flint, or burnt rubber and usually diminishes with aeration, so decanting a small quantity is a useful test. Oxidation shows bruised apple, Sherry-like aldehyde, and a brownish edge, and it persists. The decision rule should be: if the musty character remains after a few minutes and aeration, treat it as cork taint and replace without argument; if the struck-match note clearly fades, explain reduction, decant the bottle, and do not replace it solely on that basis. Given the guest’s spend and the manager’s cost concern, the sommelier can offer a glass of something else if the guest still dislikes the wine, but should not frame a sound wine as faulty.
2. What should be done with the remaining bottles and the supplier claim, and how should the by-the-glass programme be adjusted?
Read the worked answer
If TCA is confirmed, retain the cork and the bottle, record the lot number, and do not open the rest of the case for service without checking. TCA incidence is usually cork-related and sporadic, but a cluster can occur; the supplier should be notified with the lot code and the retained sample. Do not pour the whole case away before the supplier sees it, and do not use the remaining bottles for a high-profile table until one is checked. For the by-the-glass Chablis, two oxidized bottles in a month point to storage or closure performance rather than TCA. Check the free SO2, storage temperature, and time open; consider switching the entry-level wine to a screwcap closure, tightening the by-the-glass hold time, and tasting every opened bottle at service. The Premier Cru should be sold by the bottle with a documented cork policy, not used as a by-the-glass workhorse.