Leaker

I have close to 100 leaking bottles of German Riesling - many with perfect provenance. When I do open them they tend to be either very slightly ahead of the aging curve or showing no additional signs of age.

If you are confident of provenance I would not be too concerned.
 
Fill is perfect, maybe too perfect. Overfill the culprit? I trust the provenance since it's from a cellar CSW purchased. My only issue is putting a bottle in my EC that is going to make a mess. It hasn't leaked a lot.
 
it is not uncommon for german riesling (especially mosel-saar-ruwer) to be bottled with some dissolved co2. (ever notice how often the wine will have a bit of prickle just after pouring, and how the glass will coat with teeny bubbles?) not sure all the reason(s) why, but one thing it does assure is that if a cork isn't perfectly sealed, no air will be leaking in to the bottle, as there is a small positive pressure in the bottle. it also means that if the cork is not perfectly and tightly sealed, the bottle will leak.
 
The overfill issue is also very pertinent. Several of the leakers I have run through had zero (literally) ullage, so there had to have been an overfill.

If you are worried about a mess, melt some wax on the top.
 
if this is a very recent acquisition from chambers, I can reassure you re: storage conditions since original acquisition.
 
Is there any relationship between residual sugar and leaking bottles? The only leakers I've ever had in my cellar have all been sweet wines.
 
Some years ago I noticed a cork on the floor of my wine storage space. Looking around I also spotted the capsule too, still holding the shape of the bottle. It was a E. Muller Scharzhofberg Auslese ('99?, '01?) that I hadn't put away yet so luckily it was upright. Cork and capsule blown right off. I don't think it had been more than a day or so since it happened. It was quite good actually. Sometimes they do more than just leak.
 
originally posted by Ned Hoey:
Some years ago I noticed a cork on the floor of my wine storage space. Looking around I also spotted the capsule too, still holding the shape of the bottle. It was a E. Muller Scharzhofberg Auslese ('99?, '01?) that I hadn't put away yet so luckily it was upright. Cork and capsule blown right off. I don't think it had been more than a day or so since it happened. It was quite good actually. Sometimes they do more than just leak.
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Their auction bottlings in 2001 were known for that problem (I lost a 375 myself).
 
originally posted by Yixin:
As the sugar disappears the liquid leaks out.

Paging Coad.
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This does not quite make sense; if the liquid leaks out in equal proportion to the amount of sugar that has disappeared, then the resulting liquid should be just as sweet as before. Or perhaps you meant that the sugar disappears faster than the liquid leaks.
 
originally posted by Cole Kendall:
originally posted by Yixin:
As the sugar disappears the liquid leaks out.

Paging Coad.
Click to expand...

This does not quite make sense; if the liquid leaks out in equal proportion to the amount of sugar that has disappeared, then the resulting liquid should be just as sweet as before. Or perhaps you meant that the sugar disappears faster than the liquid leaks.
Click to expand...

Sugar is the analyte, and what you perceive as leakage is the eluent (or is it eluate? - sorry I last did this many years ago).

Darn the lack of emoticons!
 
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