Forensics
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 2:35 pm
Has a bottle been lovingly cellared, or left in a garden shed where temperatures rocket and fall every day?
The standard tests are to check the level and look for seepage and raised corks. An oft repeated "test" is to try to spin the capsule, but in my experiance, most capsules will not spin when the bottle is fresh off the bottling line, so the test seems pretty worthless.
A well cellared bottle will have a decayed label if the cellar humidity is very high, but there is a humidity "window" where the humidity is high enough for good storage, but low enough to stop the labels rotting.
I also suspect that over the years, the different papers and adhesives used for labels make a significant difference to their rate and manner of decomposition.
But the guarantee strips used on port bottles seem to be very consistant, and may give some clues.
Could I ask readers of this list to examine old bottles they own (but young enough to have the strips) where the storage history is known for certain (good and bad).
Please look for stains and discolouration that does not appear to come from leakage, for signs of foxing or other decay, signs of becoming brittle and any distortions that look to have occurred after bottling as a result of climatic conditions.
Hopefully, by comparing notes, we can identify a few extra warning signs!
The standard tests are to check the level and look for seepage and raised corks. An oft repeated "test" is to try to spin the capsule, but in my experiance, most capsules will not spin when the bottle is fresh off the bottling line, so the test seems pretty worthless.
A well cellared bottle will have a decayed label if the cellar humidity is very high, but there is a humidity "window" where the humidity is high enough for good storage, but low enough to stop the labels rotting.
I also suspect that over the years, the different papers and adhesives used for labels make a significant difference to their rate and manner of decomposition.
But the guarantee strips used on port bottles seem to be very consistant, and may give some clues.
Could I ask readers of this list to examine old bottles they own (but young enough to have the strips) where the storage history is known for certain (good and bad).
Please look for stains and discolouration that does not appear to come from leakage, for signs of foxing or other decay, signs of becoming brittle and any distortions that look to have occurred after bottling as a result of climatic conditions.
Hopefully, by comparing notes, we can identify a few extra warning signs!