Would you buy this?

That's a personal decision, certainly.

However, I've never heard of a cork being pushed up by cold temp shipping.
Heat expands. Cold contracts.

It might be hard to pass, but if I were in this position, I would pass.

Maybe I will offer them $100
Hmmm?

2 to 3cm is 0.79 to 1.18 inches. That is considered 'slightly' pushed up?

quote:

Originally posted by Sharkey:
2 to 3cm is 0.79 to 1.18 inches. That is considered 'slightly' pushed up?

Oh..sorry..Its more like a quarter inch or
perhaps more like 1 cm. (My metric conversions
are poor at this hour).
It did push up enough to rip open the foil.

quote:

Originally posted by winegirl58:
Maybe I will offer them $100
Hmmm?

If you wouldn't buy what you clearly suspect to be a flawed bottle for $150, why would you buy it for $100? That's still a lot of money to pay for a disappointment.

Will the retailer give you a full refund if it is damaged, even if you don't open it for a few years?

quote:

Originally posted by Seaquam:

quote:

Originally posted by winegirl58:
Maybe I will offer them $100
Hmmm?

If you wouldn't buy what you clearly suspect to be a flawed bottle for $150, why would you buy it for $100? That's still a lot of money to pay for a disappointment.

Will the retailer give you a full refund if it is damaged, even if you don't open it for a few years?

Good point...And No the sale would be AS-IS.
.......But I couldnt seem to find any good info
about cold wine damage..I found lots about heat damage..but little about how wine is actually hurt by low temps. I am to assume that the wines
non alcoholic components became frozen a some point, but when they resume to "normal" temps
has the wine been damaged? Not sure?
Any experience with this?

quote:

Originally posted by KSC02:

Heat expands. Cold contracts.

Generally, yes. But if you put a bottle of wine in the freezer for a couple of days, the cork will push out. It sounds likely that this is what happened to this bottle.

Winegirl, I know you would like to take advantage of a good deal on this bottle (don't we all?), but the original purchaser returned it for a valid reason. It's already enough of a crapshoot whenever we buy a nice wine and age it, hoping that we will eventually be rewarded with a glorious taste experience. But a bottle that's suspect from the beginning only diminishes the likelihood of that happening. Personally, just the agony of always wondering whether the bottle is sound would deter me from spending that much on it; I'd rather spend the extra money to get a well-stored bottle for a wine of this quality.

If I knew the cork damage was recent and the wine was one I would normally open in the near-term, I wouldn't worry about it as much. But since you'd probably want to store an 01 Grange for some years, I wouldn't do it.

In other words, I doubt the wine is damaged now, but it will be with a compromised cork.

Yep, frozen bottle=pushed out cork through expansion. If you're lucky, it's not heat damaged. 1cm is quite a bit, and something is fishy. Plus, you'll get tartaric acid crystal deposits if it's been frozen. I regularly freeze open bottles I want to enjoy later, but in a month or so, not over the next couple of days. With short termer freezers, there doesn't seem to be a taste difference. With wines that need a lot of cellaring, who knows?

Personally, I'd lobby them down in price, open it soon, do the standard long young-Grange decant, take notes, and use it as a learning experience.

Offer them $10. If it's good you got a steal. If it sucks, you've got something to cook with. Otherwise, this is a definite PAZZZZZZZZZ!

Pass

pass

If you wouldnt mind $150 falling out of your pocket on the street then do it. If you would then dont.

quote:

Originally posted by winegirl58:
It did push up enough to rip open the foil.

PASS

quote:

Originally posted by KSC02:

quote:

Originally posted by winegirl58:
It did push up enough to rip open the foil.

PASS

My thoughts exactly....

Another vote for a pass