Vesuvio 94 Cork shonkyness

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richmills
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Vesuvio 94 Cork shonkyness

Post by richmills »

I opened a bottle of Vesuvio 94 last night and had a right fight with the cork. It was quite dry, very crumbly and stuck to the sides. I ended up drilling the cork out in lots of little bits.

I had exactly the same problem with the previous bottle of Vesuvio 94 I opened from a completely different batch and I'm sure I've read similar reports from folks on the other place.

Is there a recognised problem with the corks on V94? Is it something to worry about for long term storage? And does anyone have a suggestion for how to get the corks out easier in future?

Cheers, Rich

(It's still delicious btw, even after the fight)
Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
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Re: Vesuvio 94 Cork shonkyness

Post by Glenn E. »

Your report sounds very familiar: 1994 Vesuvio Vintage Port.

I have not had one in the past quite as bad as the one documented in this link, but they do seem to have strange corks. I'm confident in the provenance of the bottle and I'd been storing it myself for a few years, so I'm nearly positive that the cork hadn't dried out. It was just a very crumbly cork, and as with yours it was also firmly stuck to the inside of the neck.

But as you can see from my score (94), it was still a pretty fantastic bottle of Port. (I tend to score high, but roughly parallel to AHB's scores. Subtract 2-3 points from my score and you'll have a decent estimation of what Alex might have rated the same Port.)
Glenn Elliott
Andy Velebil
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Re: Vesuvio 94 Cork shonkyness

Post by Andy Velebil »

I've had some similar issues from dry wine corks from this era as well. So I don't think it's just a Vesuvio issue.
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Vesuvio 94 Cork shonkyness

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

I recently opened a bottle of Gould Campbell 1991 and had the same problem. There was no sign that the cork was defective in any way in terms of keeping port in the bottle and air (mostly) out but it exploded into a thousand fragments when I pulled the cork from the bottle.

I did try experimenting some time ago with heating the glass of the bottle where it surrounds the cork using the steam from a kettle. It's a bit of a faff, but it seems to melt the sugars that have managed to get themselves between cork and glass, which provides a little lubrication and helps the cork slide out of the bottle. It might be worth trying on the next bottle of Vesuvio 1994 you open. Or port tongs.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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richmills
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Re: Vesuvio 94 Cork shonkyness

Post by richmills »

I'll try the kettle and steam idea next time if it looks like the cork is stuck. I don't think I should be allowed near open flames and port, so tongs are probably out :-)

I don't doubt there are many instances of dry and crumbly corks out there, I was just curious about whether it was particularly prevalent in V94 given my experiences and that other example noted by Glenn. It doesn't sound like anyone else has noticed it though so it must just be coincidence.
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