For The Love Of Port

Hi all, newbie question -- first time this has happened to me and I'd appreciate thoughts on whether this is okay!

I was at a wine store in New Jersey on Thursday and bought a bottle of Taylor First Estate Reserve. Didn't notice any issues at the time; stood it upright in the living room when I got home. When I went to move it today (two days later) we noticed a small ring of liquid at the base of the bottle -- almost like the bottle was cracked and leaking, except that I couldn't find a crack anywhere on the bottle. Rinsed it off and stood it upright on a white paper towel to watch -- five hours later there was one spot of wine, trickling down from the label. Closer examination of the label showed that the bottom half of the label was damp and darkened from wine staining -- I don't know whether or not this was the case in the store, as the label is mostly black, so I didn't notice! *facepalm*

Experienced port drinkers -- What are the odds that the bottle is somehow cracked behind the label? And if so, is it still safe to drink, assuming the worst-case scenario that it was cracked in the store and has been sitting like this for a while? I saw some other wine forums say to stay away from bottles with "seepage", but I'm not sure whether this counts as seepage (which I thought was from out of the cork), and whether a cracked bottle is perhaps even worse than that...

We'll make this our next bottle for sure, but we JUST opened an LBV last night, so likely won't get to this one for at least a week (since I'm travelling). Would appreciate any thoughts on whether this bottle will make it to then. Thanks for your input!

Must be a crack somewhere on the bottle. Does the bottle ring when tapped? If the fill level is OK, I'd decant then drink up.

Any chance of returning it to the store for an exchange?

Thought about that, but it was a store in NJ that a friend drove me to (I don't have a car), so getting back there would be a pain, especially since there's a good chance they'll refuse to take it back (I can't prove it was that way when I got it from them). We just finished our open LBV bottle 30 minutes ago, so we'll rinse it out and decant the other bottle into it tonight! Thanks for the reassurance. :)

I'd have suggested returning it too, Michelle. But given the distance, or at least pita to do so, and the modest price at that ... it really is not worth the hassle. That being said, I believe it will likely still be good when you get back from vacation. Try to use a finger nail to see if you can feel a crack beneath the label. If so, oxygen is slowly getting in as well.

My suggestion for now is to pour this into an empty 750 ml bottle that you have lying around. Then recork it and keep it in the refrigerator and it will hold up much better for a week or two that way, then in its current bottle regardless of the reason for the leak. Enjoy and thanks for stopping in here. It sounds like you are a Port enthusiast, so we hope you will come back and visit us and let us know how the LBV drinks as well as the Taylor First Estate.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think any wine becomes dangerous to drink because of in-bottle spoilage. It may become very unpleasant with certain kinds of spoilage: vinegary (from oxygen), "corked" (from TCA contamination in the cork), oxidized (usually from excessive heat during storage).

In a cracked bottle, there is some risk of tiny bits of glass getting into the wine, but decanting (through a paper towel, through a coffee filter, through muslin or cheesecloth, or even a decanting funnel with a fine mesh screen) should take care of that.

I have only once had a cracked bottle, a Smith Woodhouse 1947. It was badly ullaged, and I only noticed it had a crack on the shoulder when I decanted it. Despite that, and against stiff and equally venerable competition, it went on to win WOTN..