This problem is increasing day after day. High priced French wine producers
are now using aluminum screw caps for export. The harvesting of cork from
the same oak trees for hundred of years is not giving the quality of corks
we had before. I have started to look for screw cap bottles and will
gradually phase out the bottles using corks.
I may be able to get away with composite corks or plastic?

"Rob" > wrote in message
m...
> >
> > I've got a few that have gone like that, too. The bottles are stored in
> > a garage outside, so I guess the occasionally damp atmosphere helped.
> > But if I remember correctly, they were a few bottles that I corked and
> > stored on their sides immediately, rather than letting them stand
> > upright for a day or two. So it's possible the pressure inside pushed a
> > little of the wine out before it equalised, and it's the residue of the
> > wine that's gone mouldy. Anyway, it doesn't seem to have harmed the wine
> > at all.
> >
> > cheers,
> > robin
>
> I've had a couple that have shown it on the outside of the cork, and I
> agree that it might have a lot to do with a slightly damp atmosphere
> (I live near Portland, where the locals are slowly evolving gills :-)
> ). And since I stored them vertically for a day and didn't see any
> leakage, I think that gives even more suggestion that it has to do
> with the dampness.
>
> I've seen nothing wrong with the taste from it, but I'm now using
> shrink-on capsules to cover the cork, putting them on the day after
> corking. I'm hoping this (or possibly a wax capsule) will keep it
> from happening.
>
> Rob