For The Love Of Port

A friend of mine (no, NOT me! lol) left a bottle of 2003 Niepoort VP in his car. Needless to say, it got hot (was around 85 that day), and now it seems to be leaking a little, could be "corked". I wonder if this will prevent it from lasting a lifetime, if it could be bad in 20-40 yrs, he wants to drink it now.

He's right - he should drink it now. If he wants to keep a bottle for 40 years he should buy another one or, better still, buy another one in 40 years time that has been properly stored.

Incidentally, leaking and corked are not the same thing. "Corked" is a term used to describe a chemical reaction that takes place between the wine and the cork at the time of bottling. Leaking means there is wine coming out of the bottle whilst the cork is still in place.

Derek

Actually his bottle was cooked. At that temperature, the wine in the bottle expanded when heated and pushed the cork out and the seal was broken and wine seeped out. Derek is right. This bottle should be consumed by the end of this year, at the very latest.

Thanks for the answers Derek and Roy