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I have just put a bottle of Cockburn 1900 in the fridge.

- Why have I done this??

Tom

Don't know. Cause its open?

Don't know. Cause its open?

Nope..

..but there's a perfectly logical reason!

Tom

So that it is nicely chilled for when you open it at the Crusting Pipe tomorrow?

So that it is nicely chilled for when you open it at the Crusting Pipe tomorrow?

Sorry!

It is now out of the fridge, and safely back in the cellar - but why did I put it in there for an hour??

Tom

Because you are trying to save money on a gym membership by running back and forth between your cellar and your fridge, carrying 750ml weights?

It was leaking, so you re-corked and/or re-waxed it and put it in the fridge so that the wax would harden?

It was leaking, so you re-corked and/or re-waxed it and put it in the fridge so that the wax would harden?

Very close..

A bottle that I bought late last year, which had been re-corked in the 70's by Whitwham's, but not re-waxed. Worm had got into the new cork in a bad way, and it looked a very sad bottle in the auction room.

It didn't cost me much, and when I got it home I promptly re-corked it. To my pleasant surprise, I found that the worm had only descended about a third of the way down the cork, and that the seal was still good (the neck is very waisted). I didn't have time to re-wax it before taking my winter sabbatical.

I had a little waxing session this evening, for this and five other bottles. Sometimes when you re-wax, the wax doesn't take very well, either leaving too little covering the cork, or sometimes falling off the top of the bottle altogether, as you spin the bottle to avoid drips. A second dip in the wax pot can be effective, but in this case, the result still looked a bit messy.

After two dips, the neck of the bottle gets too warm, and the wax takes too long to solidify, should you make a third attempt.

So having made a bit of a pig's ear of re-waxing this bottle, I put it in the fridge for an hour to cool down before offering it to the wax pot again..

..result: Perfection!

Tom

that sounds awesome

At the risk of seeming like a complete newb...how do we feel about having a little teach-in on re-corking and waxing bottles?

how do we feel about having a little teach-in on re-corking and waxing bottles?

I've learned by trial and error, and can't help feeling that I'm missing a trick or two when it comes to waxing - getting good results seems rather involved, and I'm sure the pro's of old were working ten times faster. I'd like to see a pro at work...

I'm pretty much convinced now that there is no sure way of getting very old corks out in one piece (short of breaking the bottle), and that getting every last piece of a cork out before re-corking can often be only achieved by emptying the bottle, cleaning it, and then re-filling it - something I'm loathe to do. As the bottom part of an old cork will have been in intimate contact with the wine for generations, I see no harm in removing as much as possible with a corkscrew, tweezers and a small hook, and then leaving the remaining crumbs in situ behind the new cork.

I take care to steam sterilize corks before insertion, and use the right grade of cork with a proprietary, floor standing corking machine.

Tom

And I have another question raised by your post. Cork worm? I have never heard or seen of that. I assume this is an actual parasite that bores its way into the cork?

Can we look forward to "Drink the worm" port bottlings like our friends in Mexico do with certain tequilas?

Portman wrote:Can we look forward to "Drink the worm" port bottlings like our friends in Mexico do with certain tequilas?

This is a myth, actually.

Worms are never found in Tequila. They are occasionally found in Mezcal (con Gusano, or "with worm"), but even that isn't traditional only having started in the 1940's as a marketing ploy.

Tequila is a protected name just like Port. All real Tequila is made from blue agave grown in the state of Jalisco according to standards set by NOM, the Mexican standards authority. Mezcal can be made from any agave and in some sense is "generic" Tequila.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Port thread.

After re-waxing a some bottles of mine, I'm convinced that there must be some "tricks" that I'm missing. The first few bottles didn't turn out as well as I had hoped and as I gained experience the results have looked better & better - but it still takes quite awhile per bottle to get things right.

Whilst I stand to be corrected, my belief is that the worm infestations that ravage corks from time to time are the same species of woodworm that attacks furniture.

It also seems to have a fondness for the wood of wine cases.

Tom

Interesting topic, Tom, thanks.

Axel

Is there a recommended grade of this wax, and/or a recommended place to buy it? Perhaps BW-570 or BW-580 on Blended Waxes website?

Is there a recommended grade of this wax, and/or a recommended place to buy it? Perhaps BW-570 or BW-580 on Blended Waxes website?

I use a wax sold in the UK as 'bottle wax'. This seems much more rubbery than the wax found on old bottles, although I've noticed that it does progressively harden over time.

Some of the waxes used in the past look more like bitumen than wax, and some old bottles have small bubbles in the wax, suggesting that the wax was boiling when applied.

Whilst in VNG last year, I saw some large format bottles of Dirk's Charme table wine in the Niepoort lodge that had been elegantly waxed and embossed...

..should we try to arrange a masterclass at some point with the person responsible?

Tom

Is there a point to waxing the bottles besides appearance?

Why not shrink wrap the bottles, would probably be cheaper and form a tighter seal.

Why not shrink wrap the bottles, would probably be cheaper and form a tighter seal.

Peasant..!

Tom

uncle tom wrote:

Why not shrink wrap the bottles, would probably be cheaper and form a tighter seal.

Peasant..!

Tom

mhuahhaha, the uses of 500 meters of 10 gauge shrink wrap!

g-man wrote:Why not shrink wrap the bottles, would probably be cheaper and form a tighter seal.

Tom: this is a good question. If you can answer it, please do.

I suspect that the plastic in shrink-wrap wouldn’t last many decades in a damp cellar.

jdaw1 wrote:

g-man wrote:Why not shrink wrap the bottles, would probably be cheaper and form a tighter seal.

Tom: this is a good question. If you can answer it, please do.

I suspect that the plastic in shrink-wrap wouldn’t last many decades in a damp cellar.

warning, armchair speculation: I'd suggest one reason -- there is some transpiration in both directions between the bottle and its environment. In particular, in cases where the cork becomes fully saturated, wherever there is a liquid pathway material will diffuse along it and enter the bottle. If the bottle is going to leak, it actually helps to have the leakage drip free of the bottle rather than have the drips clinging to the paper/ink/etc sharing their bounty with the wine within.

SushiNorth wrote:

jdaw1 wrote:

g-man wrote:Why not shrink wrap the bottles, would probably be cheaper and form a tighter seal.

Tom: this is a good question. If you can answer it, please do.

I suspect that the plastic in shrink-wrap wouldn’t last many decades in a damp cellar.

warning, armchair speculation: I'd suggest one reason -- there is some transpiration in both directions between the bottle and its environment. In particular, in cases where the cork becomes fully saturated, wherever there is a liquid pathway material will diffuse along it and enter the bottle. If the bottle is going to leak, it actually helps to have the leakage drip free of the bottle rather than have the drips clinging to the paper/ink/etc sharing their bounty with the wine within.

if you have an airtight enclosure, just stand it upright.