Advice regarding red wine

Hi all
I know that this sounds ridiculous but I have 'lost' countless bottles of red wine due to the cork crumbling up when trying to open them.
My other half drinks white wine and I never seem to have this problem with hers.
Anyone any ideas or tips ?
I have tried different openers, putting the bottle in the fridge etc, nothing seems to work consistently.
We buy our wine at our local Gama supermarket and drink wines that are regularly refreshed on the shelf.

You're not putting the screw far enough into the cork it sounds like to me.

Am sure some real 'wine buffs' on here may arise more professionally but just a thought... The corks may be crumbling because they are drying out, so always storing the wine on its side helps prevent that. If it keeps happening no matter what I'd buy wine from somewhere else..

DTR wrote:You're not putting the screw far enough into the cork it sounds like to me.

Thanks for your reply but the cork disintegrates before the opener gets into any depth in the cork, nothing to get any purchase with.

Shiva wrote:Am sure some real 'wine buffs' on here may arise more professionally but just a thought... The corks may be crumbling because they are drying out, so always storing the wine on its side helps prevent that. If it keeps happening no matter what I'd buy wine from somewhere else..

Yes it may be worth buying from elsewhere.

Buy some with a screw top. €1.70 for 1 1/2 litres in mercadona.

Many manufacturers are now using a flexible plastic material instead of proper cork. This, and the switch to screw-top wine bottles in some countries, has had a massive effect on the cork industry (mostly based in Portugal), so the cost of god quality cork has risen. Maybe the red wine you're buying is using cheap real cork that is quite crumbly?

Any cork will crumble if its allowed to dry, out, which is why you should always store the bottles on their side. Maybe storing them on their side for a while will help, but if the cork has dried-out too much then the wine will be 'corked' anyway.

I'd try switching brands to see if that helps. My other half swears by the Libra wine that they sell in Mercadona in red, white and rose and they use plastic corks that pop out very easily.

Pete.

Try one of these type of openers, they pump air into bottle via a needle that pop's the cork out without any pulling so wouldn't break cork up . . .
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Well-Goal-Open ... ssure+cork

Many thanks to you all for your suggestions, I will give them a try.

I use one of the two-stage cork screws such as these -

https://www.wineware.co.uk/corkscrews/h ... -corkscrew

Very easy to use. Also worth ensuring your wine is stored on its side to keep the cork damp.