Cult Wines International offers professional, certified wine bottle recorking. We offer either in-house cork replacement, or (for large projects) we’ll send a technician to your cellar. We service bars, restaurants, and of course, private cellars.
PLEASE NOTE: NONE OF THE BOTTLES WE SELL ARE RECORKED, UNLESS CLEARLY STATED IN THE ITEM DESCRIPTION.
BOTTLES WHICH HAVE BEEN RECORKED BY OUR COMPANY ARE EASY TO IDENTIFY. FOIL CAPSULES ARE COVERED WITH CLEAR PLASTIC SHRINK CAPS. TAMPER-RESISTANT, SERIAL NUMBERED HOLOGRAM STICKERS ARE PLACED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SHRINK CAP AND ADHERED TO THE BOTTLE. THE PLASTIC SHRINK CAP CANNOT BE REMOVED WITHOUT DAMAGING THE HOLOGRAM STICKER. ALL RECORKED BOTTLES COME WITH RECORKING CERTIFICATES WITH MATCHING HOLOGRAM STICKERS. AN EXAMPLE OF ONE OF OUR RECORKED BOTTLES IS SHOWN BELOW.
IF YOU HAVE PURCHASED OR ARE PURCHASING A BOTTLE OF WINE WHICH WE HAVE RECORKED, AND WISH TO HAVE VERIFICATION, PLEASE SEND US AN EMAIL TO: CULTWINESINTL@GMAIL.COM WITH THE SERIAL NUMBER. WE WILL SEND YOU BACK AN EMAIL CONFIRMING THE DETAILS OF THE RECORKING WITHIN 24 HOURS.
Why recork?
To protect your investment! Once a wine’s fill level has dropped significantly, or the cork has shriveled and allowed the wine to oxidize it will become worthless. Recorking at the appropriate time can help preserve your wine’s value for 40+ years longer than with the original cork. Additionally, with our certification, any potential buyer can call or email us to verify the wine that they are purchasing has been professionally recorked to the highest standards.
When to recork?
Typically, recorking should be done approximately every 40 years. However existing condition is everything. Once the fill level starts to drop below the neck, recorking is recommended. Another reason for recorking is cork slippage. If the cork has fallen part-way down the neck of the bottle, we can extract the cork and replace it. Recorking is only recommended for wines which you plan to cellar for another 10+ years before consuming.
Our 11 step recorking procedure is as follows:
1. Foil is sliced carefully and removed in one piece if possible (90-95% of instances). If not possible to remove in one piece, top of foil is removed and put aside.
2. The cork is carefully extracted. Generally we can extract corks using a Durand cork puller. However we have more specialized cork extractors if dealing with cork slippage.
3. Immediately, argon gas is pumped into the neck of the bottle and a rubber bottle stopper placed onto the bottle. Argon gas is heavier than oxygen and settles onto the wine’s surface like a blanket, creating a barrier so that oxygen cannot not come into contact with the wine.
4. At the wine owners request, at this point the wine may be topped-up with a current vintage of the wine being recorked. This option is completely up to the owner. Additional fees will apply, and will vary based on the wine being serviced.
5. A new cork is pressed into the bottle using a compression corker. PLEASE READ: Unlike most other companies we DO NOT VACUUM the bottle prior to inserting the cork. If you create a vacuum on the bottle and then cork the wine, there will be negative pressure inside the wine bottle. Over time, air will slowly get pulled into the bottle through the tiny holes in the cork. OXYGEN IS WINE’S ENEMY. DO NOT ALLOW YOUR WINE TO BE RECORKED THIS WAY. At Cult Wines International, we fill the bottle with argon gas prior to corking. This creates positive pressure inside the bottle, and over time the gas will escape out of the cork until the pressure inside the bottle and outside the bottle are equal. This ensures that only the inert gas will remain in the bottle, and no oxygen will seep in. This is a better procedure than is even performed at the winery, and your wine will be protected for many years to come.
6. The bottle is stood upright for 48 hours to allow pressures to equalize.
7. The capsule (or capsule top) is reinstalled and a clear plastic shrink capsule placed over the entire capsule. If the top of the foil was in poor condition due to severe corrosion, we will emboss a wax seal on top of the cork.
8. Once the foil is cut, creating another tamper resistant barrier is very important to ensure that no one has touched the bottle after our recorking process. Therefore, a tamper-resistant hologram sticker is applied onto the bottle with a unique serial number. This sticker is placed at the base of the clear plastic shrink cap and adhered to the bottle itself. This sticker cannot be peeled off the bottle without damaging it. Additionally, the clear plastic shrink cap cannot be removed without damaging the sticker, and the cork cannot be removed without first removing the shrink cap. So, this combination of plastic shrink cap and hologram sticker creates a true tamper resistant barrier for future buyer assurance.
9. A recorking certificate is prepared which also contains a matching tamper-resistant hologram sticker which will match the serial number on the bottle. This certificate includes the date of recorking, recorking notes and the condition in which the wine was at the time. Copies of these certificates are kept on file in our database, but the original stays with the wine and cannot be duplicated.
10. The original cork is placed into a small sealable pouch and affixed onto the bottle with shrink wrap. It is always good practice to keep the original cork with the bottle.
11. Recorking procedure is complete and the bottles can be returned to the owner.
Pricing:
1-50 bottles: $150.00 per bottle
50-100 bottles: $100.00 per bottle
Over 100 bottles: Contact us for a quote
Tasting:
A wine tasting may be performed (at the owner’s request) prior to recorking. There is no additional charge for tasting. A very small sample will be drawn from the bottle using a Coravin prior to commencement of the recorking process. Typical sample size is 5 grams (0.18 oz.) If the bottle is determined to be compromised, the owner will be notified prior to recorking. Tasting notes will be mentioned on the recorking certificate.
Extras:
-Shipping costs. We are happy to provide a pre-paid shipping label for bottle recorking, as well as ship the bottles back to you, free of charge. However this is for FedEx Ground service. If you choose FedEx 2day air or Overnight shipping, the additional costs will be added to the service.
-On-site visits will require travel time and expenses. We are based in Florida, but will travel nationwide. Please contact us for a quote.
-Topping-off with current vintage requires the purchase of a new bottle of wine for this purpose. Each bottle of wine is obviously a different price, so topping-off prices are given on a case-by-case basis. Contact us for a price.
Exceptions:
Cult Wines International refuses to recork:
1. Any wine which is deemed to be counterfeit or in any other way fraudulent.
2. Wines which are missing capsules, have Coravin holes, or in any other way have been previously opened or tampered with.
3. Wines which have low shoulder fill levels, color separation, are leaking or are deemed to already be spoiled.