Have never seen a cork like this before

[Jenise]

IMG_5582-001.JPG

This cork was in an '85 Breton Loire cab franc that my friend Warren opened the other night (a very good bottle, btw). The healthy end was the part in contact with the wine--the rest, so black (uniformly on all sides) it looked like someone had colored it with a marking pen. Odd, isn't it?

Mold ? Does it have an odor other than wine ?

[Jenise]

No, it had no off odors and the wine itself was wonderful.

It looks like it was stored in a very damp location and was picking up moisture from the outside.

Hi Jenise,
What was the “fill level” of this bottle? I agree with Sam looks like “seepage” from outside the bottle towards the inside.

Salute

[Jenise]

It looks like it was stored in a very damp location and was picking up moisture from the outside.

Yes it does; but the label was pristeen, no sign of moisture there.

p.s. It was a 2nd hand acquisition from the east coast.

[David M. Bueker]

I see this sort of thing with German wines on a regular basis.