Dr Vino's wine blog

Sometimes a moldy cork…

18 Responses to “Sometimes a moldy cork…”

1. On January 10th, 2011 at 9:49 am ,Steve Wino wrote:

   
   

   I had my first experience of this sort not long ago. I stumbled on the last three bottles of a 1997 white burgandy, a premier cru, that was on sale for the whopping price of $7. The seller said “you could always cook with it.” I don’t know why he said that. After getting past the appearance of the cork, which was entirely on the top and much worse than your picture appears, the wine was very good. I am sure I shall never be so lucky as to find a wine this good and this old for $7 again.

2. On January 10th, 2011 at 9:58 am ,Tweets that mention Sometimes a moldy cork… | Dr Vino's wine blog -- Topsy.com wrote:

   
   

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3. On January 10th, 2011 at 1:59 pm ,1WineDude wrote:

   
   

   Last year, I had the good fortune of sampling some Haut-Brion from 1929 with a group of friends. When we inspected the cork, it had obviously leaked at some point and had developed what must have been some sort of mold covering the opening above the cork and below the foil; we called it “gunk” and figured the wine would be deader than Lincoln.

   As it turned out, that gunk/mold actually **protected** the wine after it had leaked and formed some sort of seal. The wine was interesting, not flawed, and still quite drinkable. Another lesson in not freaking out too early when the cork is covered in gunk! 🙂

4. On January 10th, 2011 at 2:06 pm ,J.Č. / Jižní svah wrote:

   
   

   Nice small mold 🙂 My Christmas bottle of Burgundy had cork which seemed like it’s growing again 🙂 http://www.jizni-svah.cz/2009/12/vanocni-vinna-skoropohadka.html

5. On January 10th, 2011 at 6:43 pm ,Lar Veale wrote:

   
   

   Hi Tyler, would love to hear your further thoughts on cork versus screwcap – I’ve managed to start or curate or whatever the correct term is over on my blog and your input would be great.

   See here.

6. On January 10th, 2011 at 7:01 pm ,Andy wrote:

   
   

   I’m glad it worked out for you this time.

   You know no one has this discussion when it’s a screwcap. This whole thread is like following a discussion on bloodletting or some other ancient system of medicine to cure illness, when we live in a modern world of antibiotics and kidney transplants.

7. On January 11th, 2011 at 11:08 am ,richard wrote:

   
   

   I don’t know why you find it “shocking.” You must not cellar many Germans.

8. On January 11th, 2011 at 11:27 am ,gdfo wrote:

   
   

   I think a moldy cork does invite further investigation.

   Does the cork seem crumbly? Wet? Deep in the neck?
   Protruding?

   Is there an unpleasant smell after you remove the foil?

9. On January 12th, 2011 at 3:47 am ,Per-BKWine wrote:

   
   

   Entirely normal to have mould on the cork. Unless the wine was bottled 2 months ago. What’s the fuzz?

10. On January 12th, 2011 at 3:37 pm ,Dan wrote:

    
    

    Shocking? Perhaps for a 2007. But that’s not very moldy compared to many corks I’ve seen, esp. on aged German riesling. The wine inside has generally been fine.

11. On January 12th, 2011 at 3:54 pm ,Kate wrote:

    
    

    On a somewhat related note, I opened a bottle of cheap wine (Circa 2007) the other day and there was 1) No cork 2) No pull-top and 3) No pop top. Instead, the aluminum tape was firmly wrapped around the top, in an almost impossible-to-remove way, and when I finally carved an opening into the top, there was just a thin sheet of what appeared to be styrofoam, with the neck empty to about the shoulder of the bottle. Before I go back to the wine store to be educated, can anyone tell me what this is all about? Thanks in advance….

12. On January 12th, 2011 at 5:38 pm ,Ian S wrote:

    
    

    Not completely unknown to find young wines that got overfilled or had spillage at bottling, hence some mould in early years.

    For older wines it’s really quite common and whilst a quick wipe of the rim before pouring is prudent, I’ve always been more careful to wipe the rim of the old lead capsule sealed bottles.

    regards

    Ian

13. On January 12th, 2011 at 9:48 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:

    
    

    Hi everyone,

    Thanks for your comments.

    I just wrote up this quick post to basically remind/inform the casual wine consumer that even though there may be some mold on the outside of the cork (of a young wine), it doesn’t at all mean that the wine is bad. That’s all.

    Oh, and to try out the macro setting on my camera!

14. On January 12th, 2011 at 9:49 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:

    
    

    Kate – That sounds really weird. What was the wine?

15. On January 20th, 2011 at 3:23 pm ,Pablo Orio wrote:

    
    

    Hi everybody,
    It is sometimes normal, it he winery where I am oenologist Bodegas Riojanas Spain, when I am botteling Reserves or Crianza it is possible you find it.
    The reason of this is because there is humidity where they are in the non oxigeno agged, that you need in this kind of wines.
    Hugs of Spain
    Pablo Orio

16. On January 20th, 2011 at 5:28 pm ,Paul Kalemkiarian wrote:

    
    

    This is why I’m all for screw caps.

    Paul Kalemkiarian
    President, Wine of the Month Club

17. On January 23rd, 2011 at 11:08 am ,Pablo Orio wrote:

    
    

    Dear Paul,
    I think that in Reservas and Great Reservas of Rioja is better natural cork.

18. On September 1st, 2011 at 2:51 am ,Moldy wine | Shadowlakekenn wrote:

    
    

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