The one thing that can ruin your most prized bottle of wine

When it was new, I bought six bottles of 1986 Penfolds Grange. The first one was the most incredible wine I’ve ever had; the rest, while wonderful, never rose to the same heights. Is “bottle variation” really a thing?

-J.G., Clontarf, Sydney

Bottle variation is a reality, but it’s misnamed: it’s actually cork variation since each one is different and, consequently, admits different volumes of air. This, of course, affects the way a wine develops over time. Also important is our own variation. Let’s call it “occasion variation”, an expression I first heard used by Robin Day, the perceptive former chief winemaker at Orlando Wines in the Barossa. What he meant is that our impression of a wine varies according to what else is going on: what we’re eating, the ambience of the space we’re in, the company we’re keeping and many other external influences.

Let’s start with ambience. This includes noise level, the smells emanating from the kitchen, the food on our plates, the scent of the person next to us at the table and whether we’re sitting comfortably. Our palates also vary with our mood and health: whether we’re feeling as fit as a Mallee bull or not quite 100 per cent; whether we’re feeling happy or sad. And our dining companions. Who hasn’t been at a table when somebody with a loud and confident voice raves about a wine and excites the entire group? Or the reverse: someone bad-mouths a wine, which causes everyone else to either dislike it or modify their opinion downwards? This sort of crowd opinion-influencing is very common. Even among professionals, sadly.

It has to be said, however, that the ’86 Grange is a very good vintage.

Got a drinks question for Huon Hooke? thefullbottle@goodweekend.com.au