pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
 | | 03/17/2005 6:06 PM |
| There's a short, mostly mindless thread on ebob currently wherein a poster asks about depressed corks on some burgundy he just received from a reputable auction house. Most of the responses are along the lines "gee, if your corks are depressed give them some pharmaceuticals." The few serious responses express very little concern about the wines potentially being damaged. How do folks here feel about this situation? I recently received shipments of multiple bottles of two different Bordeaux (vintages 2001 and 1996) with somewhat depressed corks. No obvious signs of leakage/seepage, fill levels seem okay. Anyone see cause for concern? The 1996s worry me a little more, both because they're older and because on the bottles with depressed corks the capsule doesn't spin (spins on bottles without depressed corks).
Thoughts? Should I send these back? They weren't cheap. TIA. | | | |
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Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Lover
Posts:4842
| | 03/17/2005 6:40 PM |
| There can be innocent reasons for slightly depressed corks, depending on how they are inserted into the bottle. Modern bottling lines are pretty consistent once they are adjusted correctly. If you are in a hurry, the first several cases might have slightly depressed corks (anything sticking out you would pull out and fixed). Of if you are corking with a hand powered machine, there can be a lot of variance. I would be surprised if this results in more than 1/8 inch. The line we use squirts cold inert gas into the bottle before filling. Others put in gas after filling, but in either case, the gas should expand a tiny bit after warming up.
Similarly, there can be small variations with capsules. Spinning machines typically have several ports so that multiple bottles are being capsuled at one time - and they can be adjusted slightly differently.
However, if most bottles show some looseness and other are stuck tight - that sounds suspicious. | | | |
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Tom
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2384
| | 03/17/2005 10:27 PM |
| You would be depressed too.
Plastic.
Screw caps.
Their days are numbered, sad as that may be.
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pizinah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1313
| | 03/18/2005 6:41 AM |
| Bob,
That's essentially my concern. Most of the corks in bottles with respect to which the capsules spin freely are not meaningfully depressed. Where the corks are noticeably depressed none of the capsules spin. I'm sure there's a conceivably benign explanation, but I'm a little worried. The wines aren't cheap (the bottles I'm most concerned about are 1996 Leoville Las Cases). Any further thoughts, or anyone else have similar experiences or suggestions? Again, the fill levels are normal, there's no noticable seepage, etc.
pinzinah | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 03/19/2005 2:44 PM |
| | I would not be too worried about a wine with a slightly depressed cork given that everything else looks fine. In my experience, lots of capsules refuse to spin but there is nothing wrong with the wine. I would not return them myself. | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
Master Sommelier
Posts:15753
| | 03/22/2005 2:10 AM |
| I don't think you have a problem here.
In the past when I have had a stuck capsule that I was suspicious about I would just cut the capsule off and look at the cork.
So let me ask a related question:
Taking the capsule off... does the wine need to be consumed sonner than later?
There are several wines today that come without a capsule. What benefit does the capsule have on a bottle of wine? | | | |
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Marcel
Grape Puncher
Posts:875
| | 03/22/2005 3:58 PM |
| David,
I think it has no function besides protecting the cork from dust or something like that. I don't think the absence of a capsule will shorten a wine's drinking window at all. | | | |
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Eric White
San Ramon, CA
Advanced Sommelier
Posts:9182
| | 03/22/2005 4:46 PM |
| | I agree with Mars, I don't think capsules serve any useful purpose any longer. I read once where they were for keeping bugs from attacking the corks in earthen cellars, I don't know how accurate this is. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:12891
| | 03/23/2005 4:11 AM |
| | sounds good to me eric. if anyone ever asks me that is the response i'm goin' with. | | | |
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Seek
Upstate NY
Wine Thief
Posts:2772
| | 03/23/2005 12:15 PM |
| | Capsules also were used to assure against fraud. A bottle without a capsule could be consumed, some plonk put back into the bottle and the cork reinserted. | | | |
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