Definition

1. Adjective:
   • (Of wine) Tainted in flavor: Describes wine that has developed an unpleasant taste or odor due to a faulty cork, specifically one containing excess tannin or other contaminants that have spoiled the wine's flavor.

Usage

• The primary use of "corked" is as an adjective to describe wine that has been spoiled by a defective cork. It is a specific term in oenology (the study of wine). The condition is also known as "cork taint."

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The sommelier identified the bottle as corked and offered a replacement.
  • We had to pour out the corked chardonnay; it smelled musty and damp.
  • A corked port can be a great disappointment.

Advanced Usage

• "To be corked": This passive construction is commonly used to state that a bottle of wine has this specific defect.
  • I think this bottle has been corked; let's try another one.

Variants and Related Words

• Cork (n): The stopper for a bottle, traditionally made from the bark of the cork oak.
• Cork (v): To seal a bottle with a cork.
• Corky (adj): Can sometimes describe a wine with a slight, and not necessarily unpleasant, smell or taste of cork. However, "corked" always indicates a fault.
• Cork taint (n): The technical term for the chemical contamination (often from TCA) that causes a wine to be "corked."

Synonyms

• Tainted: Spoiled or contaminated in flavor.
• Off: Not in good condition; spoiled (a more general term).
• Musty: Having a stale, damp smell, which is a common descriptor for corked wine.

Antonyms

• Sound: In good condition; free from faults.
• Clean: Free from off-flavors or taints.
• Pristine: In perfect, unspoiled condition.

Notes

• "Corked" refers specifically to a flaw caused by the cork sealing the bottle. It is not used to describe wine that is simply old, oxidized, or spoiled due to other reasons like heat exposure.
• While the reference mentions "bôi đen bằng than bần" (blackened with cork charcoal), this is an archaic or highly specialized usage not related to wine. The dominant modern meaning is exclusively related to wine spoilage.

Adjective

1. (of wine) tainted in flavor by a cork containing excess tannin
   • a corked port