Taking the trauma out of recorking wine
The more age-worthy a wine, the more likely it’s going to need recorking at some point in its life. And, while the procedure is something you can try at home, it’s not a procedure to be done carelessly or taken lightly. If it were me and the wine in question was worth hundreds, never mind thousands of dollars, I’d summon an expert, leaving nothing to chance.
But those who collect the great Penfolds wines have the best option of all. The famous Australian winery’s head winemaker, Peter Gago, travels around the world with several of his assistants each year to handle the recorking himself.
When Gago brought the Penfolds “clinic” to Houston in September, he joked that he’s mostly motivated by all the frequent flyer miles he can collect. In reality, Penfolds hit upon a brilliant marketing plan when they launched these globe-trotting clinics in 1991. Gago and his assistants get quality face time with their best customers – the people who have the legendary Grange and other prized Penfold collectibles in their cellars – and they perform a necessary service for both the winery and the owner of the wine bottle.
“It allows us to assess how our wines are aging and give the client our recommendations on when they should be drunk,” Gago said. “There’s rarely a problem with wines that have been stored our cellars, but once we sell a bottle, we don’t know what happens to it. Storage is so crucial to protecting wine.”
Before his Houston visit, Gago conducted a clinic in New York in which he recorked a 60-year-old bottle of Grange worth $50,000.
To everyone’s relief, it was doing splendidly. It got a new cork and a new capsule, then was returned to the owner’s cellar.
Even corks in perfect condition allow some wine to evaporate over time – ullage – which is easily observed by how much space there is between the top of the liquid and the bottom of capsule. Penfolds has developed a system using a color-coded card that fits snugly against the neck of the bottle to visually illustrate the owner if recorking is necessary.
Because owners of rare and prized bottles can be reluctant to allow recorking – there’s always risk in exposing wine to air – the card removes the angst from the decision.
If the gap is less than eight centimeters deep (the green zone), recorking is most likely unnecessary. If the gap exceeds 9.5 centimeters (the red zone), you might as well pop the cork, swallow hard, then swallow the wine. If it’s still good, say “hallelujah!” and quickly throw a party. Penfolds will recork these wines and top them off, but they won’t recertify them, meaning they won’t be auction-worthy.
It’s the wines with gaps (or what’s also called “la part des anges,” which means the angel’s share) between eight and 9.5 centimeters that most profit from recorking.
If Gago or a team member pronounces the bottle sound after tasting, it gets topped off with the current vintage of the same wine – i.e., old Grange gets new Grange – a replacement capsule is put in place and a signed, computer-coded certification sticker is attached to the back of the bottle.
Then it’s wrapped in white tissue paper, just as a new one would be.
I’d always thought the tissue was just a fancy finishing touch – you never see the stuff on supermarket wines, after all – but Gago corrected me.
“Tissue,” he said, “makes it easy to tell if a bottle is leaking. That’s why you should keep it there.”
Penfolds recorks, free of charge, any of its wines that are least 15 years old. The team travels with a state-of-the-art single-bottle-at-a-time corking machine.
They also offer current-release tastings while you wait for your appointment. The gregarious Gago has been with Penfolds for 23 years and took over for the departed John Duval as Penfold’s cellar chief in 2002.
Now, a decade on, he’s the world’s reigning “Winemaker of the Year,” as chosen by the Institute of Masters of Wine in February. Gago loves hitting the road during what should be his quiet season because it permits him to revisit wines he had a hand in making and also meet the folks who treasure them. Spreading good will and providing an important service – plus collecting all those frequent-flier miles – makes for a happy traveler.
http://www.chron.com/life/food/article/Taking-the-trauma-out-of-recorking-wine-3933016.php
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