For The Love Of Port

I have several bottles of Madeira with chipped capsules. Should I rewax them or leave them as they are?

My intention is to drink all of my Madeira in my lifetime so from an aesthetic point of view, I'm not really concerned if one capsule is a different colour from another. However, let's just suppose that in future years, I do decide to sell a few bottles, will a bottle that has been 'redipped' be worth less or or in some way be less desirable to a buyer?

All opinions gratefully received.

Philip

Honestly, I don't know.

But I have recorked a few ( had to do it) and dipped a couple, at least it seals better then and made a log on what I did.

Even put a sticker behind about my work on a couple.

So it must be up to the future buyer ( if you sell or some in the family after you have gone ) to trust that you have done it correctly. :idea:

I can't comment on madeira directly, but I have bought ports that have been redipped. When doing so, I have not noticed that the price has been significantly affected by a competant redipping.

However, there are alternatives that you could try either first or instead. You can get foil capsules for home winemaking that slip nicely over the top of a bottle or even plastic "shrink wrap" capsules that you blast with a hair dryer for a few seconds.

But there's nothing really that beats the romantic look of a wax dipped bottle.

Alex

I have no exerience of this but if someone showed me an old bottle with a new wax seal I would be suspicious that it was hiding a leaking cork.

I never think twice about buying port with a chipped capsule. The only seal I rely on is the cork.

Derek

I would agree with Derek if I saw a bottle that looked like it had been opened and rewaxed, but the bottles that I have seenw hich have been double dipped are quite clearly intact.

But perhaps I am just too naive and gullible.....or perhaps I'm going to be able to pick up bargains at auction that Derek would turn his nose up at.

:)

Alex

I saw some Dows 1970's at my local wine store, which they had recently gotten in, that had bright pinkish red wax over the tops of the bottle, then the Selo de Guarante on top of that. The wax was obviously recently done (very shinny like they had been dipped in the past year or so). THe only reason I could think of was before shipping someone thought the corks were not in very good shape, so they put a wax top on them. The wax covered a large part of the neck, totally covering the cork, and way more than needed to be done. Needless to say, I didnt get any.

Andy

The other possibility, given that the seals are on top, is that the bottles were only recently released from the cellars. I would ask, as that may actually be an indicator.

Jay

I had thought about that, unfortunitly the sales guy could not help answer my questions. But the store had other 70's Dow that were obviously very recent ex-cellars release that did not have the wax top. Those other bottles had new labels, seals, and the computer generated numbers from the bottling / labeling line stamped on the capsule. So I was thinking, someone (whoever that was) maybe thought the corks were drying out?? and dipped them in wax. No proof of that, but I have never seen any other '70s Dow that had a wax top, except a magnum with a really old wax top.

I could be totally wrong, and hope someone here may be able to shed some light on the matter.

dear Philip,
it really depends on wether you are going to sell the bottles or not. a rewaxed bottle will drop in value for sure. on the other hand if you are going to keep your madeira for a few years to come, and you should keep it upright, then the evaporation will be noticeable and that is a strong reason to rewax a damaged capsule.
regarding the later value in case of a resale, you should consider having the rewaxing done by a reliable wine shop. it is realy no big deal to do it, but some official piece of a paper from a professional should certainly help in terms of keeping the value.
regards
peter
ps: and i also have to say that i am glad to finally have arrived at roys 's perfect port- and madeira-website :)

Thank you gentlemen for your replies. I have a slab of bottle wax (complients of Tom) and a baked bean can at the ready.

Just to give my little bit seeing as I see a lot of old bottles.....

My advice would be to leave them as they are, if there is a chance that spoilage may occur then yes I would get them re done, however if not I would leave them as they are.

No matter what the provenance, people are always sceptical. If a case comes up for auction and there are 11 btls what does that mean? Maybe the case had been resting next to a roaring fire for ten years and the bottles were ruined, it could just be that the owner did not like them and decided to sell the rest. Re capsulsing allows doubt and for an old bottle chipped seals is just the status quo and a prospective buyer would know this, possibly even it might be a sign of authenticity that the btls really are that old?

No right or wrong, but from my position in the wine trade this is my very humble opinion!

toodle pip...

Tom