Question About Ullage

WINE TALK
1

I was hoping to get some opinions from the board with regards to ullage in different wines with differing bottle ages. Are there any hard and fast rules for what kind of ullage is acceptable or troublesome? What levels of ullage should I expect as a wine ages? What are your experiences with bottles that show a low fill level related to their age? I’m mostly interested in old world wines (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, etc.), but any info on Cali wines would also be interesting. Thanks!

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The oft-repeated standard (?) YMMV

High fill or Normal fill - Level of young wines. Exceptionally good in wines over 10 years old.

Into neck - Perfectly good for any age of wine. Outstandingly good for a wine of 10 years in bottle.

Mid neck fill - Indicates exceptional storage for any wine. In bottles over 10 years of age, indicates especially good storage conditions. For those over 40 years of age, may indicate a recorked/ reconditioned bottle.

Base neck fill - The fill is at about the bottom of the neck. Indicates excellent storage for any wine. For wines over 25 years of age, indicates exceptional storage conditions. Many producers fill bottles at base neck or lower.

Top shoulder - Fill just down below base neck. A standard fill for wines over 10 years of age. Normal level for any claret 15 years old or older. For wines over 25 years of age, indicates excellent storage conditions.

Upper or high shoulder - A fill just above the midpoint (as measured by volume) of the shoulder of the bottle. Acceptable for any wine over 20 years old. For wines less than this age, may indicate problems with storage conditions. Common for wines over 40 years of age. Exceptional for pre-1940 wines.

Mid shoulder - Not unusual for wines over 40 years of age, but may suggest poor storage condition or early signs of cork failure. Can be at significant risk of being undrinkable and estimates for the value of the wine usually take this into account.

Lower shoulder - Some risk. Low estimates on wine value, usually no reserve at auction.

Low shoulder - This can often be an indicator of poor storage conditions and/or an undrinkable wine. Not normally recommended for consumption. Risky and usually only accepted for sale if wine or label exceptionally rare or interesting. Always offered without reserve and low estimate.

Below low shoulder - Rarely seen. Not acceptable for sale unless a rare sort of bottle. Wine will usually be undrinkable.

3

Jason,

There is no hard and fast rule for ullage level versus age. Obviously you want to see the highest possible fill, however a perfect fresh-from-the-winery fill is just not something you can expect as the bottle passes age 20 - even with perfect storage conditions. Some basic guidelines:

20+ years old: Any fill into the neck or better is great. Top Shoulder and Very Top Shoulder is fairly common and not alarming unless the bottle is showing other signs of abuse.

30+ years old: Into the neck fills (or better) are not common at this age, ‘average fill’ is more like Very Top Shoulder, Top Shoulder is not alarming.

50+ years old: This is where an Into The Neck Fill will start to be suspicious. Ullage is a natural process, so a bottle at this age with the fill into the neck can actually raise red flags. Collectors who purchase wines of this age will often think nothing of a High Shoulder fill or even a Mid Shoulder fill.

Hopefully that helps!

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Thanks for the responses. What about Burgundy and Rhone bottles since their shape doesn’t really lend itself to such easy classifications?

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This is one of the most complicated questions in wine collection and appreciation. I think it is probably the least understood phenomenon in keeping wine.

My view is that there does not seem to be an obvious correlation yielding a result of “more ullage means a (proportionally or not proportionally, age-wise) degraded wine.” Moreover, in my experience, ullage seems to have little to no correlation with apparent degradation – at all – of an aged wine, at least a red one. That is to say: I have tasted some very ullaged wines that were wonderful. I haven’t paid attention to white wines like I have to reds, so I have no comment there.

That said, I definitely eschew noticeably ullaged wines and choose the least-ullaged of something I want, when buying. Something has clearly happened to an ullaged wine, and the least number of happenings to any old bottle seems to me like the best situation.

Hopefully some of the guys with really serious experience in buying/collecting/drinking old wines will chime in here. I’d especially like to hear thoughts on Burgundy and Barolo/Barbaresco, personally.

6

Burgundy bottles are measured in centimeters from the bottom of the capsule. 2.5cm or less would be considered a fresh-from-the-winery fill. Lower than that, fills are noted in cm - 3cm, 4cm, etc.

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While the picture of the fill levels is ok, I don´t agree with some explanations and conclusions.
A Bordeaux top-shoulder fill is NOT standard after 10 y - and after 15 y it´s an indication for a weak cork or bad storage.
Upper shoulder should not be there before 35-40y of age …
Everything below that level is definitely a risk that the wine is impaired … and rarely mid-shoulder levels taste and smell completely ok, in many cases they are clearly oxidized or even madeirized …
Almost all of my 1986 Bordeaux are still into neck, and also the 1982 bts. rarely are down to top shoulder.

Burgundies: usually bottles down to 4.5 and even 5 cm (2") are sound (when stored cool and calm) … with 5.5 to 6 cm there is some risk, but I had fine Burgundies from the 40ies, 50ies with 7, even 7.5 cm that were great. With 8+ cm the risk is quite high.

With Rhones it´s similar to Burgundies, but they are slightly more sensible to oxidation, so I would detract 1cm from the list above …

PS: the picture of the Bordeaux-bottle is quite unusual, usually the neck is much longer with classified growth …

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Great posts and info. Thanks all!

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Gerhard is exactly right (as usual [cheers.gif] ) about anticipated fill levels for the age of a wine.

And it sounds, Gerhard, as though you might be implying that Burgundy might be a bit more resistant to whatever harm that moderate, or more, ullage has “done” to, or implies might have happened to, a wine. Is that so, or do you think that maybe original fill-levels in Burgundy might have been more lackadaisical, generally? Burgundy being a farming region, Bordeaux being an industry…

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Matt, nothing to do with original fills - Burgundies are definitely more resistant against ullage (at least the “old” ones) … while a Bx with decent mid-shoulder can already smell oxidized, a Burg with 6cm is usually fine (if the storage was fine reg. temperature). 6cm below the cork of a Bx would already mean low shoulder!
If it´s the same with Burgs from the last 2 decades has to be seen … these bottles should never have more than 2-3cm ullage by now.

11

Ah, you’re being quite specific to the question at hand. I was attempting to take it to a more general-topic level re ullage. I would LOVE to see the thoughts about this issue from you and your peers in tasting experience (which is way beyond mine for old and elite wines). Should I start a new thread on the general matter of ullage? It seems like few noticed the post, which might mean avoiding the question…

Ullage is a big, big deal in assessing older wines.

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Matt, I think there is no need to start a new thread - this incl. headline is fine … as long people are interested at all (which is another matter since a lot of threads get too few attention here).

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You’re right, of course. On this issue, I just picked up a few '88 Beaucastel (a vintage I love there) so I could avoid drinking my own that I bought on release. One reason I bought these bottles now is that they are in absolutely pristine condition, with ullage on all of them at <2.5cm, with good tight corks recessed under their capsules like new wines. They might be corked, hope not, but I am confident they won’t be somehow just “off,” oxidized or whatever, a problem with old wines that we all know and which I think ullage can give an indication of.

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Just for the fun of it I went to my cellar to measure the Beaucastels [wink.gif] :
all 1988s between 1.7 and 2.3cm, 1989 (curiously) 2-2.5, 1990 1.5-2.2, 1983 2.2, and 1981 2.0 cm (!)…
but some bottles are in cases and not easily accessable …
so no headaches at all. [dance-clap.gif]

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Are the bottles v(height, width, punt depth) and capsules (length) identical across the vintages? I would assume they are, but I hate assumptions.

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Ok, again two floors downstairs … [soap.gif]
(joke!)

As far as I can see with free eyes all the bottles are identical, the usual CdP-bottles with pope crown (maybe slightly heavier, I´m not sure) … minor differences on the label (alc. etc.), but 1981 has no back label, and 1983 a French tax capsule.
Beaucastel switched to its own bottle with Beau-crest later …

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Cool.

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You have to bear in mind that in Burgundy and the Rhone up through the 70s and perhaps even 80s bottles were sometimes filled by hand or with mobile bottling machines, so the original fills could be quite inconsistent. Hence any ullage may not be due to a poor seal and evaporation or leakage; it might reflect the original fill level.

The issue with ullage is oxidation, so you have to take into account what’s in the bottle. I’ve had some older Barolos that have been remarkably fresh though they had poor fill levels. I assume that’s because of the high acid and tannin levels and probably, and in some cases the fill may have been low to begin with because of primitive bottling methods. I’d be more cautious about a lot of ullage with more delicate wines, though. Even if there had been no loss through the cork, if there’s more air in there, there’s more potential for degradation of the wine.

19

89 Beaucastel had cork problems and some bottles are leakers. I have some with high fills and some low. Here was a bad one, though the wine was good (but a bit of a Brett bomb):

This bottle had a good fill when released and has been under temperature control ever since. However, it was inadvertently stored upside down for a few years. That only seemed to be a problem for the leaker bottles and this was the worst one.