What do you do if you have a bottle with a VERY slow leak, and it’s not one you really want to open up just yet? I was moving around some magnums, and noticed a 2010 Chimere has some leaked wine around the neck! I inspected it, can see almost the whole cork with a flashlight, and didn’t see any signs of wine running up the cork? Then I checked on a magnum of 2002 Alban Grenache just above it…and there was the culprit! Slow leak(in cellar for 14+years) out the wax…can’t see the cork at all. So it’s not the Chimere…but the Alban. I’m not in any hurry to drink either bottle just yet…so what to do if you want to keep the bottle longer? Stand it up…saran wrap the top(which is what I did) and keep it on the side…drink it…?
What follows is just my view and I admit in advance I could be wrong. My concern would be that if I know it’s leaking, then it’s possible the wine if consumed now would never be better. Again there’s probably a variety of reasons that that’s not true, or not always true. But it might color my perception of the wine.
Agree. And i’ve had leakers before on more “delicate” wines, and always open them now! But this is an Alban Grenache…suckers built like an Egyptian Pyramid!
But more so in not drinking it now, is it very well could be the ONLY 2002 Magnum of this wine in existence! Back in the day, Alban only produced a handful…maybe a dozen bottles in magnum format. I think it was 2004 when he started making more of them…but anything 2003 or earlier in magnum is RARE! I’ve got 03/04/05 Reva, 02 Grenache, 00 Lorraine in magnum…so they are more collectable to me.
The empty can be a rare trophy if you like. I would vote for prioritized consumption. I have had a handful of wines over the years go through the same discovery you describe. The most recent was a 2002 Rouget Vosne Romanee “Cros Parantoux”. A rare prize in my cellar that just needed to be sampled. It was certainly fine but I expect a proper bottle would have been a bit brighter.
About an inch from the cork. Little lower than the 2000 Lorraine. It’s a slow leak. Might get in touch with John to see if they are willing to recork? I’m not even on their list anymore…so don’t know how that will go over? A rare wine in that format…I would think they would care?
Btw…they use(d) the STANKIEST wax I’ve ever smelled! I thought there was something wrong when I first received a bottle…emailed them, and they said it was perfectly good food rated wax. Stank like nasty smelly cheese!
You know that Hudelot Noellat had a problem with leaky bottles in 2010, pretty much across the line. In the past couple of years I discovered 2 bottles of Clos Vougeot that were leakers. One I poured at an offline, and it drank beautifully. The second I stood up, and drank about a year later, and it also drank beautifully, both still youthful. I haven’t opened a non-leaking bottle, but I suspect it wouldn’t be much different. I think in many cases, a slow leaker can still have a pretty good seal against air ingress. If you think you might drink the bottle in the next couple of years, I might just stand it up and hang on. Another option would be to just pop the cork, clean the neck, and reinsert a good cork. For a mag, the amount of air you would introduce is pretty minor.
The longer you wait, the more likely it is to oxidize and be ruined.
Drink it! This is the easiest question ever, has a ton of age on it, and it’s Grenache
It might be fine now, but toast in a few years.
How is this a decision? lol
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A rare wine in that format…I would think they would care?