For The Love Of Port

Because my exposure to older bottles of Vintage Port is limited, I was wondering if someone could fill me in on the following question I have. I recently prepped a aged bottle of Gould Campbell VP (1983) on Death Row by standing it upright and removing the IVDP seal and outer and inner foil caps.

The outer foil cap was pristine, obviously put on just before shipping and after storage of the bottle, if any, in a cellar or warehouse of the distributor. The inner foil cap and seal were stained with a bit of dried brown crust, a small amount of seepage or spillage from a different bottle perhaps? The real question lies with what lay below the inner foil seal - a greenish deposit on the top of the cork that resembled a green mold of some sort.

It washed off easily enough with a damp towel and didn't stain the cork. While the cork itself was pretty saturated and crumbled into the wine, I saw no evidence of the moldish stuff on the remainder of the cork or the neck of the bottle. I wish I had thought to take a pic to post, but alas I did not (this time.)

Can anyone tell me if this kind of deposit/mold is normal on an aged bottle of VP? Is it simply my lack of experience with older bottles that I have not seen this before?

So far it does not seem to have affected the Port in any way. A TN shall be posted soon enough in the Virtual Tasting Forum for September, so those details are still to come.

Thanks!

Todd

Todd,
Sounds like you are describing some mold on the top of the cork. This is totally normal on older bottles. It is due to being stored in a humid enviroment and the mold grows around the top of the cork area. Just wipe it off with a wet towel and you're good to go. It will not hurt a thing.

Excellent - sounds like it may have actually been stored well prior to my acquisition of it - much like I was hoping for.

Thanks Andy!

Todd

I can't say I've ever seen green mold on the top of a cork but I've opened plenty of older bottles of Port and table wine that had plenty of mold underneath the capsul. It's normal and nothing to worry about.

I have heard that you can scrape it off and mix it with a few teaspoons of the Port itself and that it makes for a really earthy Port reduction sauce.

Yes ... I am kidding.

Roy Hersh wrote:Yes ... I am kidding.

That's good I was about to seek out my next bottle of aged VP to try this!

(yes, now it is *I* who am kidding!)