I seem to have a cork failure disease.

I made 30 gals of extreme elderberry wine ten years ago.
I still have more than a case left.

It was designed for maxed-out alchohol, I got that and
extreme bouquet, and very sweet, with high natural tannins.
Excellent for a sweet!

Storage has been at room temps, mostly horizontal, but
some vertical time, and some temps occasionally over 85F
due to lifestyle irregularities.

I opened a bottle last night.
I chose that bottle cuz the cork was half stained, figured
now or never. The stained part was damp and crumbly,
and almost spongy, it was not a surface stain.

The wine seemed like it had deriorated. It had lost
that extreme bouquet and fruitiness, thus some complexity
as the tannins and earthyness took the front seat.
It had become a good junkyard wine. ...OK in that context,
it seems twice as potent as whiskey on the rocks, my
normal drink.
The color was garnet, but I seem to remember ruby.
If so, that suggests oxidation.

Many of the corks are showing those symptoms. Half?
They seemed fine a year ago, the wine too.
I have no idea why, I've never heard of this before.
The sugar? The hi-alchohol? Contamination?

Is this a common bug? How to prevent?

Thanks!
--Doug

On Nov 13, 2:19 pm, (Doug Bashford) wrote:
> I seem to have a cork failure disease.
>
> I made 30 gals of extreme elderberry wine ten years ago.
> I still have more than a case left.
>
> It was designed for maxed-out alchohol, I got that and
> extreme bouquet, and very sweet, with high natural tannins.
> Excellent for a sweet!
>
> Storage has been at room temps, mostly horizontal, but
> some vertical time, and some temps occasionally over 85F
> due to lifestyle irregularities.
>
> I opened a bottle last night.
> I chose that bottle cuz the cork was half stained, figured
> now or never. The stained part was damp and crumbly,
> and almost spongy, it was not a surface stain.
>
> The wine seemed like it had deriorated. It had lost
> that extreme bouquet and fruitiness, thus some complexity
> as the tannins and earthyness took the front seat.
> It had become a good junkyard wine. ...OK in that context,
> it seems twice as potent as whiskey on the rocks, my
> normal drink.
> The color was garnet, but I seem to remember ruby.
> If so, that suggests oxidation.
>
> Many of the corks are showing those symptoms. Half?
> They seemed fine a year ago, the wine too.
> I have no idea why, I've never heard of this before.
> The sugar? The hi-alchohol? Contamination?
>
> Is this a common bug? How to prevent?
>
> Thanks!
> --Doug

Corks deteriorate over time, so what you see if pretty natural,
especially if you used regular quality corks. All red wines will turn
garent at some point if allowed to age that long and tannins will
mellow - again, that's just a natural progression. If the wine in the
bottles with corks that look ok tastes significantly better, you might
want to consider recorking those bottles - assuming all the corks came
from the same batchm the "good ones" won't probably last much longer.

Pp

On Tue, 13 Nov 2007, pp said about:
Aging Corks Fail ??


> On Nov 13, 2:19 pm, (Doug Bashford) wrote:

........

> > Is this a common bug? How to prevent?
> >
> > Thanks!
> > --Doug
>
> Corks deteriorate over time, so what you see if pretty natural,
> especially if you used regular quality corks. All red wines will turn
> garent at some point if allowed to age that long and tannins will
> mellow - again, that's just a natural progression. If the wine in the
> bottles with corks that look ok tastes significantly better, you might
> want to consider recorking those bottles - assuming all the corks came
> from the same batchm the "good ones" won't probably last much longer.
>
> Pp

Thanks!

I wonder if in the future I waxed the corks or
went to synthetic, or...?

Sometimes I hear of 100+ year-old fine wines.
What's up with that? I thought that was typical?

--Doug

Doug Bashford wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Nov 2007, pp said about:
> Aging Corks Fail ??
>
>
>> On Nov 13, 2:19 pm, (Doug Bashford) wrote:
>
> .......
>
>>> Is this a common bug? How to prevent?
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>> --Doug
>> Corks deteriorate over time, so what you see if pretty natural,
>> especially if you used regular quality corks. All red wines will turn
>> garent at some point if allowed to age that long and tannins will
>> mellow - again, that's just a natural progression. If the wine in the
>> bottles with corks that look ok tastes significantly better, you might
>> want to consider recorking those bottles - assuming all the corks came
>> from the same batchm the "good ones" won't probably last much longer.
>>
>> Pp
>
> Thanks!
>
> I wonder if in the future I waxed the corks or
> went to synthetic, or...?
>
> Sometimes I hear of 100+ year-old fine wines.
> What's up with that? I thought that was typical?
>
> --Doug
>
>
>
100 year old wine will taste kinda flat, too. Just not 'spoiled'.

The quality of cork we get nowadays is inferior to that of just 25 years
ago. We used up much of the good stuff, and they try to grow the bark
too fast these days by using lotsa water and nutrients. The cork grown
this way isn't as dense as naturally grown cork.

Gene

No cork lasts more than 20 years, older fine wines are re-corked and
use 2 inch corks of highest quality. No synthetic manufacturer
recommends more than 3 years from what I have seen on their websites.
Loss of fruit is a natural consequence of age also.

Cork seepage can be caused by a lot of things, usually upward
temperature excursions. If they feel crumbly at all you should swap
them now; swap all the leakers regardless and maybe touch up to SO2.

Joe

> No cork lasts more than 20 years, older fine wines are re-corked and
> use 2 inch corks of highest quality. No synthetic manufacturer
> recommends more than 3 years from what I have seen on their websites.
> Loss of fruit is a natural consequence of age also.
>
> Cork seepage can be caused by a lot of things, usually upward
> temperature excursions. If they feel crumbly at all you should swap
> them now; swap all the leakers regardless and maybe touch up to SO2.

Ugh. You guys are getting medieval on me.
Thanks for all the ideas.

I did a test on waxing cork with red candel wax.
By heating BOTH cork and wax well above melting point
I had expected perhaps a millimeter of penitration
like soft wood. Nope, no visible penitration, but
I got good bonding with the waxy feel impossible to
scrape off. Unexpectedly, the wax was drawn into
and sealed the hairline fractures caused by the
corkscrew, at least 1/4 inch deep. (I used binoculars
as a microscope.)

Thoughts on that? Possibilities maybe?

Here's more thoughts from the web.
Your thoughts?


Cork (material) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Corks. Corks. A cork stopper for a wine bottle. A cork stopper
for a wine ... Cork demand has increased due to more wine being
sealed with cork rather than ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_(material) - 26k -
---------

Cork taint - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cork taint is a broad term referring to a set of undesirable
smells or tastes found in a bottle of wine, especially spoilage
that can only be detected after ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_taint - 32k - ---------

Champagne (wine) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prior to insertion, a sparkling wine cork is almost 50% larger
than the opening of the bottle. Originally they start as a
cylinder and are compressed prior ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_(wine) - 93k -
---------

Cork Oak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The European cork industry produces 340000 tonnes of cork a year,
with a value of €1.5 billion and employing 30000 people. Wine
corks represent 15% of cork ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_oak - 25k - ---------

Alternative wine closures - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alternative wine closures are substitutes used in the wine
industry for sealing wine bottles in place of traditional cork
closures. ...A 2007 study by Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 University
showed that synthetic cork allowed the highest levels of oxygen
permeation in when compared to natural cork and screw caps,...
Screw caps form a tighter seal and can keep out oxygen for a
longer time than cork. These benefits aid in maintaining the
wine's overall quality and aging potential....
"consumers still perceive screwcaps as being for ‘cheap’ wines
(regardless of the price tag)."...
European market (under the name Vino-Lok) in 2003, over
300 wineries have utilized Vino-Seal. Using a glass stopper with
an inert o-ring, the Vino-Seal creates a hermetic seal that
prevents oxidation and TCA contamination. A disadvantage with the
Vino-Seal is the relatively high cost of each plug (70 cents
each) and cost of manual bottling....
...with protection against TCA similar to a screw cap.
Made from recyclable food grade polymers, Zork can be removed
without the aid of additional tools and can be easily resealed.
...
... crown caps provide a tight seal without risking cork-taint
.. Although easier to open, crown caps eliminate part of the
ceremony and mystique of opening a sparkling wine.
There is continuing opposition to the use of
alternative closures in some parts of the winemaking industry. In
March 2006, the Spanish government outlawed the use of
alternative wine closures in 11 of Spain's wine producing regions
as part of their (Denominacion de Origen) D.O. regulations. [18]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_wine_closures -
33k - ---------


Wine fault - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cork taint is a wine fault mostly attributed to the compound
2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), although other compounds such as
guaiacol, geosmin, ... Anthocyanins, catechins, epicatechins and
other phenols present in wine are those most easily oxidised [1],
which leads to a loss of colour, flavour and aroma - sometimes
referred to as flattening.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_fault - 62k - ---------

Stelvin cap - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A metal screw-cap developed by the Alcan Packaging company to
replace wine corks to reduce the occurrence of cork tainting. It
also incorporates a small ventilation system to allow tiny
amounts of air into the wine bottle to aid the wine maturation.
The reluctance over the adoption of this cap seems to be the
brand degradation caused by using a screw-cap on a wine.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stelvin_cap - 15k - Cached - Similar pages

Bottle opener - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
More generally, it might be thought to include corkscrews used to
remove cork or plastic stoppers from wine bottles. Another name
for some types of bottle ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottle_opener - 30k - ---------

Wine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Most wines are sold in glass bottles and are sealed using a cork.
Recently a growing number of wine producers have begun sealing
their product with ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_wine - 149k - ---------

Screwcap - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A screwcap is a type of alternative wine closure that is gaining
increasing support as an alternative to cork for sealing wine
bottles. ... Traditionally associated in the US with extremely
inexpensive jug wines or even "skid row" wines, the screwcap is
making a comeback due to concern about premature (or sporadic)
oxidation and cork taint. Screwcaps have a much lower failure
rate than cork, and in theory will allow a wine to reach the
customer in perfect condition, with a minimum of bottle
variation. Cork, of course, has a centuries-old tradition behind
it, and there are also concerns about the impact of screwcaps on
the aging of those few wines that require decades to be at their
best.
Some argue that the slow ingress of oxygen plays a vital
role in aging a wine, while others argue that this amount is
almost zero in a sound cork and that any admitted oxygen is
harmful. Various studies are underway,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screwcap - 18k - ---------


Glossary of wine terms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fighting varietal: A term that originated in California during
the mid 1980s to refer to any inexpensive cork-finished varietal
wine in a 1.5 liter bottle. ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_wine_terms - 90k -
---------

Bottle variation is the degree to which different bottles,
nominally of the same wine, taste and smell different.

Bottles stored together their entire lives, with no obvious
faults, can taste completely different. Thus there is a saying,
"There are no great old wines, only great bottles."