A couple of cork tales

I would love to tell you what this 1983 from the Rhine tasted like but the cork had fallen in and over the years the wine had seeped out leaving only a tiny dribble in the bottom. An old example of Sainbury's Vintage Selection range from the time when Sainbury's did rule the UK High Street!

1976 Riesling Reserve, Cave Coop de Bennwihr-Redgarten

The second bottle was a 1976 Alsace Riesling. Fortunately the cork was intact and hadn't fallen into the bottle but the colour was quite developed as the photo above shows – a light mahogany with a considerably oxidised nose like a good dry fino from Jerez. However the taste was still fresh and clean but complex with a long mineral flavour. Was the cork right? Would other bottles of the same wine been less deep coloued and less oxidised on the nose? I'm not in a position to say, although my guess is that had it been closed with a screwcap both the colour and the aromas would have been less developed.

All in all probably a testament to the staying power of Riesling!