4/24/2020 - JustBreathe680 wrote:

This bottle appears to have been corked, a TCA-tainted wine. As soon as the cork was pulled, there was an odor of wet cardboard or a damp basement carpet. I typically don't smell the cork but the smell upon opening begged for further investigation and a noticeable off putting smell. The wine stained the cork unevenly with the highest stain approximately 3/4 of the way up the cork but there was no signs of seepage. The fill looked normal but may be the cork was starting to fail. I believe this bottle was corked vs oxidized, as the color was still very dark purple and there was no sign of true seepage. However, may be there was a little bit of both at play.

I decanted with the hope the bottle wasn't completely lost. The smell of the wine did not equal the harsh smell of the cork but the aromas were very faint. At this point, I was not willing to pour it down the drain. I cleaned out the bottle and poured the wine back into the bottle after a 1 hour decant.

Taste was clearly off for a TRB Revana but it was palatable. Overtime, the bottle became smoother with a little more fruit presence or my taste buds were adjusting to the TCA, which in theory should have gotten stronger over time. Drank approximately 1/2 the bottle over 6 hours. I'm curious to see if the TCA is more present on day 2 after being stored in a Eurocave WineArt. If so, I will update this review.

I decided not to rate this wine, as I don't believe it was a true showing but decided to write this review to assist with possibly identifying TCA taint in the future.

This bottle was purchased from wine.com. I called customer service and described my experience with this bottle and their policy was to replace the bottle or give me a credit. I chose to replace the bottle with another 2013 Revana Estate Cabernet and I'm looking forward to tasting the wine the way it is supposed to be! Hopefully, I don't run into the same issue but I belive the odds are on my side.

Wine.com tends to be on the more expensive side but they frequently offer good sales that drop good bottles into reasonable prices. After there great customer service with my recent experience, I won't hesitate to buy from them again if the price is within reason.

2/13/2016 - facchair wrote:

- Medium forming legs. It's unbalanced with a light/medium body. Coarse texture with a short finish - Really weak effort for Lewis. Must have been the worst of the worse grapes in the valley!