Just got a bottle of Krug 168me and was placing it in the wine ref when I noticed that it had a lot of these “oil-like” stains on the bottle. What I mean by oil-like is there are these stains on the bottle that are semi rainbow in nature, almost like when someone subjects the glass to fire. I tried to rub them with some cotton and 70% rubbing alcohol but it never went away. With that my initial thoughts was this was done in the bottle manufacturing process and not seepage as it it was seepage the stains would have cleared out with the alcohol. I also tried WD 40 on paper towel, same thing, did not disappear, usually any sticker paste, grease or oil is dissolved with WD 40.
Anyone here have any thoughts? Should I return the bottle for an exchange?
Tried to wipe off a small part of the bare bottle surface, so no damage was done to the bottle, and also the stains remained on the bottle, nothing was removed and that’s why I am confused to what these stains are. Not really sure if there is a reason for them to deny the return or exchange.
You saw a little rainbow pattern on the outside of the bottle and tried to wipe it off with solvents and it’s still there and you think it could be from the contents of the bottle?
What do you think might be in the bottle that could make a permanent oil-based stain? Surely not something you would willingly ingest!
Normally people use a welding torch to burn oily residue off a wine bottle, but in this case, that seems extremely risky.
To clarify, the reason why I posted this here is just to get some suggestions. I plan to keep the wine for a few years so popping it now is not an option. I just bought this the other day exchanging this probably will not be too difficult. I just wanted to get some other people’s insight and see if I am being too paranoid. This is not a cheap bottle of wine for me, its about $185 after tax, which to some might be chump change but for me it is not. I plan to open this on a special occasion in the future. I have other champagne at different price points which I plan to open on more regular occasions. I just would hate to open this in the future and find it oxidized or heat damaged and think back to the time when I probably should have exchanged it. It can also be totally fine in the future as well, I do not know, hence I am looking for people more knowledgeable than me for some suggestions.
Seriously Joel, those stains aren’t going to be from seepage. The capsule looks in great shape and there’s nothing I can think of in wine that would cause those kinds of stains. Wine would have been cleaned by your solvents. As Victor suggests, you might try detergent.
I think that even if you took a heat gun or torch you wouldn’t have been able to do those stains. Maybe Victor’s grinder, but those aren’t the marks of a grinder. It looks like something rubbed up against the bottle somehow.
Based on those pics, I wouldn’t worry about it at all. You can talk to the vendor but they may not do anything, so don’t hope for too much. Still, I think you’re going to be fine.
