On Jan 21, 10:33*pm, Ronin > wrote:
> A few days ago I had the subject wine. *Nothing special, but I had
> inherited it, and I think it was kept in a closet since purchase. *The
> note is particularly about the cork, the condition of which I have
> never seen before. *When removed, it was entirely wet, but came out in
> one piece. *The wine did not exibit any oxidation/off notes, but was
> over the hill, if you please. *The wine was enjoyable, but certainly
> not what I had hoped. *But the cork... It has now shrivelled to the
> size of my little finger and is as hard as a rock. *I have never
> encountered such in all my 50 years of enjoying wine.

Even when stored under the best conditions, many of the 1966 Bordeaux
reds are now past their best. I still have a single bottle of this
wine and have not tasted it for many years, but I would be surprised
if it is not nearly as good as 15 years ago.

Corks that are well over 40 years old can be rather strange. As the
cork changes with age it often becomes filled with wine and then
shrinks greatly when removed and allowed to dry well. Other old corks
seem to be glued to the neck of the bottle and tend to crumble, and
the center of the cork is pulled out if you are not very careful.
Other old corks shrink enough so they start slowly leaking around the
part that contacts the glass. Still others shrink enough to fall into
the bottle, and then you very soon have a puddle of wine on the
floor.