Success with leaking corks, but sound wine?

ky1em1ttskus · November 24, 2018, 11:45pm

Thanks for the responses, all.

I’m opening the bottle tonight (2005 Carlisle DCV Zin) and I’ll report back. Hopefully I share in the collective luck!

Ken_V · November 25, 2018, 2:59am

Just yesterday a leaking 2005 Dönnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Spätlese was stunningly good. I was particularly pleased since I have several that are similarly leaking.

scamhi · November 25, 2018, 4:19pm

Leroy bottling as mentioned above are an issue in my cellar. I have 2 bottles of Leroy 07 and 09 vintages and one D’Auvenay 09 vintage that all show signs of seepage. Brown sticky goo around the red wax Leroy’s and the D’Auvenay foil.

ky1em1ttskus · November 25, 2018, 6:11pm

Opened the bottle last night and poured a glass. Color looked perfectly age-appropriate. Immediate bouquet of beautiful fruit and the wine seemed to be exactly where it should be. It went wonderfully with a meatloaf dinner and was delicious on its own.

Thanks again for the collective wisdom.

Nathan_Smyth · November 25, 2018, 7:59pm

The 2016 is now pushing triple digits retail.

Which means it would be about $300 on a chi-chi restaurant list.
.

David_Bu3ker · November 25, 2018, 8:03pm

Leaking German wines are of course like sunrises. They both happen every day.

JG_Salazar · November 26, 2018, 9:10pm

Wild, right? Spend enough time in retail, you get to witness some serious sea changes…

B_Buzzini · November 27, 2018, 12:49am

2006 Rivers Marie Willow Creek Pinot Magnum in 2013 - fail! Leaking cork, even protruding through the wax…wine was hollow and lifeless.

Winery replaced with same bottle…fast forward 5yrs…had it last night…showing signs of leakage up the cork, and a little protruding the wax…BUT this time…success! Super juice inside! Go figure.

John_Morris · November 30, 2018, 8:52pm

I poured a 1970 Ch. Gruaud-Larose at my brown-bag blind tasting group last night. It had a low shoulder fill (and an unusually wide shoulder), the capsule was missing and there was some seepage. The cork broke in two with an ah-so and, when I tried to pull the bottom part out of the neck with a Screwpull, it cored out. It was damp the full length.

In short, a bunch of bad omens. I had a back-up wine at the ready.

And the wine? Lovely and remarkably fresh. Two people guessed a 1990 St. Julien, which was a very reasonable guess. Lot of body and fruit, too – perfectly balanced. Quite remarkable for a 48-year-old wine the lots of ullage and a miserable cork. And it was brett-free – very clean.

The white marks on the first photo are where the fill was.