There are few things in the world of wine more difficult and more sensitive than the re-corking and topping up of old wines. First and foremost - the re-corking process should be carried out only when the corks of long-cellared wines show signs of weakness and deterioration. More than this, because of the obvious possibility of "cheating" (a phenomenon not unknown in the wine trade), when a winery undertakes this process for the wine of a particular vintage year or those of several years, the winery invariably invite several public figures to watch the process. Those figures include wine-knowledgeable people, often from neighboring chateaux or estates and the rules are quite simple: (a) The wines should be opened very carefully and slowly by the cellarmaster. If the process is carried out by his/her assistants, the cellarmaster must be present (b) the interior of the neck is quickly cleaned with a cloth that has been dipped in the wine to be used in refilling, (e) the cellarmaster and only the cellarmaster tastes the wine to make sure it is not tainted in any way; (d) the wine used for topping up (where this is necessary) should be of either the same vintage or one that is widely accepted as being similar in quality and of the equivalent of that vintage, and (e) the wine is then re-sealed under the eye of the invited public. Bottles are invariably worked on one at a time to allow minimum "open time".

Whenever possible, wine of the same vintage year is used in the topping-up process. Most of the time this is not difficult as most serious wineries around the world today maintain a "library" of their wines over the years. These libraries, almost always under the control of the winemaker or cellar master (as opposed to the owners) are most often "referred to" in order to see how wines age over the years or when special vertical tastings are in order. When necessary a bottle is opened for use in topping up other bottles.

When wines of the same vintage are not available, the cellar master finds a year in which the wine was very similar and uses that. Because the amounts used are so small (one might say miniscule, often no more than 2 - 3 cc) this has almost no effect on the wine. Even though the effect is minimal, wines that are re-corked are also relabeled, the new label also showing the date of the re-corking process. Here a certain controversy arises, some wine critics feeling that bottles that have been topped-up are always inferior to those that have not, and others disagreeing. My own experience in general and from a special blind tasting held several years ago in the extensive cellars (675,000 bottles) of the Badrutt Palace Hotel in St. Moritz, tells me that only very rarely will the re-corking topping-up process harm the wine.

Although re-corking and topping up are serious processes, the joint process has become the reason for a party and a good public-relations opportunity for many Chateaux and estates in France, Italy and Spain where the process is common, sometimes giving those who visit the opportunity to taste wines that are so rare or expensive that they only rarely make their way to most wine lovers. Not many years ago, for example, I attended a re-corking day at Chateau Mouton-Rothschild and had the chance to retaste, among others the wines of 1945,1947, 1949 and 1953. Not a bad day's work….

As to private wine collectors whose bottles need re-corking, within France and England many fine wine dealers provide a re-corking service for their clients. Stores such as Berry Brothers & Rudd in London, Sherry-Lehmann in New York and many of the better shops in France and England will even send their own cellar-master and an assistant to the homes of serious collectors for this purpose. In some cities the auction houses of Sotheby's and Christies will provide similar services. For those fortunate enough to have older well cellared vinages of Chateau Margaux and Chateau Lafite, both of those wineries send their cellarmaster and a small staff to the United States every two to three years and there will re-cork and top-up any of their older bottles. The service is free. There is one small catch, however, for if the cellarmaster determines that your wine is corked or otherwise tainted, he will simply turn the bottle up and without very much ceremony at all, pour the wine into the sink. That sounds a bit dangerous but to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever had cause to complain about this practice.

One final word - and let this be stated loudly and clearly: It is immoral and in some places even illegal to recork and top up wines only when the ullage (the level of the wine in the neck or shoulder of the bottle) begins to fall. That, simply stated is fraud.

© Daniel Rogov