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I just opened a bottle of "white red wine" (a Blanc de Noirs) from 2010. I must confess, I really don't know much about wine.

The cork looks weird to me, as if it was "moldy". It's a bit blueish-green around the edges. The wine smells pretty good, and the cork doesn't smell bad as well.

Is there anything to worry about?

The cork looks like this – click to enlarge:

cork cork cork

Cascabel
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slhck
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  • Not relevant, but do you mean rosé instead of 'white red wine'? – Mien Jan 27 '12 at 21:05
  • @Mien No, it's not a rosé, it's a [Blanc de Noirs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_(wine)#Blanc_de_noirs) :) – slhck Jan 27 '12 at 21:07
  • I agree with Bruce, the cork looks pretty good. If it doesn't smell like cork, the wine should be good. – BaffledCook Jan 28 '12 at 15:39

1 Answers1

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The cork is normal. Over time, some of the pigment chemicals will embed themselves in the surface of the cork, starting by the edges. To my eye, the resulting zone has a bluish brown color. For a full red, the cork will turn a brown-purple, and eventually black. All of this should have no relationship to whether the wine is still good.

Some things to look for that will signal a bad bottle:

  • A change in color of the wine (e.g., pale yellow turning deep gold)
  • Indications that air entered the bottle or wine leaked out
  • The smell or taste of wet cardboard in the wine
  • An ammonia-like smell from the wine
  • A vinegar taste

Hopefully none of these applied to your wine.

Bruce Goldstein
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  • It actually tasted quite good! I will try and pay more attention to the smell and see if I can make out differences. Thanks for the bullet list. – slhck Jan 28 '12 at 15:41