Corks Out

From multiple sources: --"55-75% is the ideal humidity range for stable wine aging. Humidity levels of 80% or higher will cause mold to form and rot the labels. Lower levels will draw wine out of the bottle and be...

A cork you know to be clean would be better than a screw top, or rubber stopper, *especially* if the bottle will end up on its side at any point. The jury is still out on how coatings on screwcaps affect wine, and rubber...

You're probably one of the few who'd buy decent wines at the case level. There's a guy down at Merchants who I talk to every time I'm in town. Blanking on his name right now but he'd be happy to have you come in too....

I partly agree but not entirely. Not sure how a vacu-vin blows off phenolics. Also: "The best way to preserve the wine once opened is to refridgerate standing up. that is a vacuus environment and nothing will happen to...

Well I believe I have encountered every problem under the sun from bacterial spoilage, excessive brett, and just plain old dirty winemaking which is the fault of the winery and leaves one with little recourse other than...

One of the little tricks I've used, when appropriate, is to simply see if I can spin the capsule. Obviously this won't work for twist-offs, certain Italian vino, - and it's not a 100% certain way of detecting anything-...

Today I visited a liquor store that, for this side of Tokyo, is very enlightened in its wine offerings and knowledge. I was reporting to the owner that a bottle of Spanish red from the Priorat district that I'd bought from...

Also, though this may be a subject for another thread, I think the jury may still be out on screwtops vs. corks vs. other stoppers. We don't really know how wine will react with the metal and its coatings in the screwtops,...

Wine bottles should be laid on their side to prevent the corks from drying out and the air getting at the wine. There should be no great fluctuation in temperature: 13-16 degrees C (55-60 degrees F) for reds, 10-13 degrees...

Guilly - what would be the benefit of covering the corks with wax? You did correctly point out the potential risk of upsetting the delicate balance of exchange that the cork provides, why not leave it to age 'naturally'