Hello there! I'm Dr. Vinifera, but you can call me Vinny. Ask me your toughest wine questions , from the fine points of etiquette to the science of winemaking. And don't worry, I'm no wine snob—you can also ask me those "dumb questions" you're too embarrased to ask your wine geek friends! I hope you find my answers educational, empowering and even amusing. And don't forget to check out my most asked questions and my full archives for all my Q&A classics .
What happens when wineries recork old wines? What are they doing, how do they do it, and why?
Official recorking opportunities have become far less common in recent decades. But let me back up a moment. The basic idea is simple: Corks don’t last forever. Over time, they can lose elasticity and dry out. When that happens, they can allow air into the bottle. As oxygen slowly enters, the wine can evaporate or leak out and oxidize. Instead of aging gracefully as intended, your wine will take on tired, maderized flavors.
In the past, some producers (particularly in Bordeaux) would recommend replacing corks every 30 years or so and offer “reconditioning” services at their châteaus. Famously, Australia’s Penfolds would hold recorking clinics around the world for collectors who had wines that were at least 15 years old.
I’ve been lucky enough to observe a recorking clinic , and the level of care and control was really impressive. The exteriors of the bottles were carefully cleaned, and the old cork was removed with special equipment. Crucially, inert gas was used the entire time to make sure the wine was kept safe from oxygen. The wine would be inspected for signs of things like spoilage or TCA . Here’s the bad news—you might find out your wine is already ruined. There were rumors of a “crying room” for collectors who just found out their special bottle was gone.
If the wine is considered healthy, the bottle will be “topped off” or refilled to replace any wine that has evaporated over time. Ideally it would be the same wine and vintage , but sometimes people use the closest wine available. The bottle is resealed with a fresh cork and new capsule, and there’s often documentation to verify that the bottle was officially recorked. If everything goes well, recorking can extend a wine’s life by decades.
But the practice has its critics. Opening old bottles creates opportunities for counterfeiting or tampering, and some experts believe the process itself can disturb or damage fragile, mature wines. It’s also an expensive process for a winery to offer.
And even though wine consumption has grown, I don’t know many people who hold on to enough wine for long enough to make recorking necessary. Above all, I would not recommend attempting to recork a wine yourself. The moment you pull that cork without protecting your wine with inert gas, you’re going to lose the wine’s value, if not the wine itself.