For The Love Of Port

So Madeira producers, with a few exceptions, seem to buy the smallest, crappiest corks ever.

Once a bottle is opened/decanted/re-bottled I'd like to replace the regular corks with T-top corks.

The D'Oliveiras ones don't seem to fit everything. I bought some 19.5mm ones from widgetco and they're often too big as well; sometimes I can force them and they stay smaller after some time under pressure.

Is there a source for ~18mm T tops that anyone is aware of?

What do you guys do?

I don't drink Madeira, but I end up with gobs if leftover t-stoppers from Tawny Port. Have you tried using those?

Actually the size of a cork has nothing to do with the quality of the cork. That is a very common misunderstanding.


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Glenn, I haven't tried that. I do drink tawny more than VP so I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the idea.

Andy , I know what you mean about how corks are graded but when a cork is 1" long with an irregular bottom that is classified as crappy for me, even if the tiny bit there is might be a premium grade.

I do find that the Tawny Port t-corks are a bit smaller in diameter than normal table wine corks. They seem to work well for Madeira bottles as well.

Matt K wrote:Glenn, I haven't tried that. I do drink tawny more than VP so I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the idea.

Andy , I know what you mean about how corks are graded but when a cork is 1" long with an irregular bottom that is classified as crappy for me, even if the tiny bit there is might be a premium grade.

Can't say I've ever seen a 1" driven cork in a Madeira. Keep in mind there is no point in having a 6" cork if the inside neck sealing area is only 3". The other 3" will just hang free into the bottle (think really old VP bottles). Obviously a cheap cork is, well, a cheap cork. But again, length in and of itself has no bearing on the quality.

I have seen 1-2" short corks in Madeira and German Riesling.

I've seen driven corks less than one inch in Madeira. Very miserable things. I seem to remember the majority of the really short ones from just post WWII.

Eric Ifune wrote:I've seen driven corks less than one inch in Madeira. Very miserable things. I seem to remember the majority of the really short ones from just post WWII.

Less than 1"? Did they get a scrap piece of cork and just pop it in? Granted you open more Madeira than I, but all I've seen have been around 1 1/2" or more.

Yes, some corks so short, you wouldn't think they'd work. About the same length of a T-cork, but driven and without the top part. I've also some old Vintage Madeira with T-tops waxed over from Justino's. I guess they didn't care about their corks back then.

I'll take/post a pic the next time I get a super-pathetic one. :)

Having nothing to lose I tried driving the ones that I bought from widgetco.com into the bottles and they seem to compress so, on review, they do work but you have to press REALLY hard the first time and then give them a few days to 'settle' into their new size because if you try to remove them immediately they rip apart.

The really short ones are rare. I've had them in some Ports as well as Madeira but they are rarely seen except in old bottles, not just old vintages.