Ask Jim - recorking wine
Leading young winemaker, Jim Chatto
Dear Jim,
Can you or should you rebottle wine, especially old bottles?
Jan, SA
By the term ‘rebottle’ I am assuming you mean re-cork.
The main reason I can think of to sensibly re-cork a wine would be if the closure was failing and possibly letting air in and/or wine out. Also you may have a youngish wine, with a high degree of ullage (airspace) between the wine and the cork, and wish to cellar it for a lot longer. In both cases careful consideration is advised as any attempt to re-cork a wine will result in some degree of oxygen entering the wine and moderating flavour. That said, unless you are happy to drink the wine soon, it will require re-corking and possibly topping. The process of rebottling poses a lot higher risk of oxidative damage to the wine and I would not recommend it as such.
Penfolds Wines have been running red wine clinics in major cities for years for this very purpose, though be it only for their wines.
Once the decision has been made to re-cork the process is fairly simple with right tools and skills. The tools required are a supply of high quality corks, a hand corking machine and an inert gas such as Nitrogen or Carbon Dioxide. The right skills are the more difficult, as you will need to get the old cork out, the wine topped (with the same wine or perhaps a younger version) and a new cork safely back in, whilst introducing as little air as possible. Once re-corked, the wine should be allowed to stay upright for at least 24 hours to allow the cork to swell and seal the bottle correctly.
I would recommend a visit to one of the Penfolds red wine clinics to see how the pros do it before attempting it on your own cellar treasures.
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