Lay it down, or tilt it back a bit

WINE TALK
1

I was at a local restaurant last night when I had a discussion with the manager about wine. He told me there’s a trend to tilt a wine bottle back a bit, instead of laying it flat. I’ve never heard this before, but told him I’d e mail him after I heard what the experts said. [wink.gif]

Is he misinformed, or have I missed a few threads on this?

2

I tend to keep aged bottles of red at a 45 degree angle for 30-60 days before I’m ready to open them so the sediment is collected in one part of the base of the bottle (allowing for more wine when I decant for sediment). I’d never do it for a young wine without sediment though…

3

Dan, just stand them up. The myth of the wet cork is probably by far the most difficult one to see through, in a business filled with all kinds of myths.

4

A bottle tilted an a moderate angle still has the entire working end of the cork fully wet. The ullage (air bubble) is simply moved to the shoulder of the bottle. Ed, standing a bottle upright is fine for much longer than most people expect, but for truly long term storage (especially in a dry climate/low humidity environment), keep the cork wet. I’ve had plenty of shriveled and or crumbling corks on very old bottles, and many times the wine is shot.

5

For me, it’s the opposite. I’ve had so many older wines ruined by a cork that was too wet, rather than too dry. Most of the time with a soaked cork, the wine gets that dank, wet wood flavor, that sometimes blows off with time. Not to be confused with TCA. But when a cork is soaked completely through, it’s not doing anything to keep air out of the bottle. You could push it into the wine with very little force, or if you can manage to get a corkscrew through it, it just slides right out, as if it had been coated with Crisco. Someday, I’ll get the Mythbusters folks to do an episode on corks. I’ve run into them at a restaurant I go to in SF.

6

This.

7

That’s my vote too. Humidity is 100% on the inside of the cork and we all know what that does to wood and bark.

8

So Ed am I understanding you correctly when I say you do not want your cork soaked ?

9

Nick, You read my words correctly. I believe keeping the cork wet by having it touch the wine is a 200 year myth and has caused more damage to older wines than anything other than heat and oxidation.

10

I find this thread fascinating.

11

I like a good cork soaking but I feel that I won’t have many cork soakings after the wedding.

12

Straight up, cork out, glass ready.

13

Maybe you missed the gist of his comment; ItemFix - Social Video Factory

14

Stand up even for long term storage?

15

I’ve always wondered if bad corks are the issue. Lay 'em down they soak through and fall apart. Stand 'em up, they dry up and fall apart. Maybe the ruined bottle was determined before we bought it…

16

Warren, went right past me! And every relative I have has sent me that cork soaking sketch, along with the woman at the bar who can suck the cork out of a botttle and the other one with the guy who can remove a cork by putting the bottle in a shoe and tapping it against a wall. I guess I take this whole cork soaking thing too seriously, more levity would be a good thing for me.

17

+1

18

I love this sketch.

19

I don’t know which is better for the wine but it sure stores more efficiently if it is lying down

20

Since we’re discussing cork soaking, I should point out that I cellar my wines in missionary position, unless they’re in wood cases, in which case I alternate their orientation into the sixty-nine position. [wink.gif] (wink emoticon due to absence of risqué emoticon)