Experience with Ullage?

[M_Meer]

I would have gone with “Two decimeter ullage.”

[M.Kaplan]

I’m really surprised to read that a high ullage wine would not be oxidized. But good to know! Can’t quite understand how this can be (the cork’s seal would have been disrupted thus leading to oxidation) but perhaps if it occurs very slowly over time and the wine is high in anti-oxidants (e.g., high tannins in its youth) everything balances out.

Hi David, look I agree this ullage - lack of oxidation thing kind of does not make sense but here is another anecdote: About 15 years ago in Houston we were at a small wine dinner for very old wines. One guy brought a 1949 Cheval Blanc, the ullage was high shoulder but not too bad. Once the foil was removed the cork dropped into the bottle, it had only remained in place because of the foil. We all looked on in horror. The wine was wonderful and beyond anyone’s expectations. A great bottle indeed after an inauspicious start.

brodie

Alan Rath has posted about how little oxygen penetrates a wine sitting in a decanter (leaving aside the oxygen introduce by pouring into the decanter). So perhaps part of the explanation is that a well-stored bottle that hasn’t been moved a lot doesn’t absorb that much oxygen from whatever is in the head space.

I recently opened two '82 Gruaud-Larose from the same case, both without corks but with capsules. One bottle was maderized but the other was pretty much on point. Go figure…