Is it okay for cork to look a bit “moldy”?

Question

I just opened a bottle of "white red wine" (a Blanc de Noirs) from 2010. I must confess, I really don't know much about wine.

The cork looks weird to me, as if it was "moldy". It's a bit blueish-green around the edges. The wine smells pretty good, and the cork doesn't smell bad as well.

Is there anything to worry about?

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The cork looks like this – click to enlarge:

Answer

The cork is normal. Over time, some of the pigment chemicals will embed themselves in the surface of the cork, starting by the edges. To my eye, the resulting zone has a bluish brown color. For a full red, the cork will turn a brown-purple, and eventually black. All of this should have no relationship to whether the wine is still good.

Some things to look for that will signal a bad bottle:

• A change in color of the wine (e.g., pale yellow turning deep gold)
• Indications that air entered the bottle or wine leaked out
• The smell or taste of wet cardboard in the wine
• An ammonia-like smell from the wine
• A vinegar taste

Hopefully none of these applied to your wine.

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