If some cork still falls through, you can use multiple cheesecloths. If you’re having guests over, you can filter the whole bottle into a carafe and serve your wine from that. If you’re enjoying your wine solo, you can pour the wine directly into your glass. Another type of filter you can use is a coffee filter.
Corkscrews can be hard to use — and if you’re like me, you’ve botched many a wine-opening attempt.
It happened again last weekend, when I and some family members set out to enjoy a fancy bottle of wine wed been saving for a special occasion. We twisted the corkscrew into the cork, but as we pulled it out, the cork split in half. Our attempts to avert disaster only made things worse: The bottom half of the cork fell down into the wine, somehow crumbling into 7,000 pieces on its way.
I enjoy my orange juice with pulp, but I cant say the same for red wine. Still, we didnt want to waste the bottle.
Finally, we landed on a solution: Pouring the wine through some kind of strainer.
A standard kitchen strainer filtered out the bigger bits of cork, but some of the tinier particles still made it through.
How to Save a Bottle of Wine with a Damaged Cork
FAQ
How do you get cork bits out of wine?
Can you drink wine with bits of cork in it?
How do you remove cork from wine?
But if bits of cork simply ended up in your wine, the situation can be salvaged. The trick is to filter your wine. One way of doing this is by taking a cheesecloth or two and securing it around the opening of a bottle of wine with a rubber band, then pour. Hopefully, most of the cork will be blockaded by the cheesecloth.
How do you clean a wine bottle without a corkscrew?
Use a knife or a screw and hammer to nab the cork without a corkscrew. As a last resort, put the bottle in a shoe and hit the bottom against a wall. If the cork falls apart or gets pushed into the bottle, pour the wine through a filter (like a cheese cloth or coffee filter) into a new container. Angle the corkscrew at 45 degrees.
What should you do if a wine cork is ruined?
“If the cork is ruined, grab a coffee filter, put the filter in the glass, and strain out the pieces,” says Staley. If you’re serving the wine to others in a professional situation, be upfront with the guests about what happened. “The cork will not affect the taste of the wine.” Many cork problems can be prevented with a proactive approach.
How do you clean a cork bottle?
Grab a flat, non-serrated knife thin enough to fit in the neck of the bottle. Choose a sharp one that can push into the cork without much resistance, otherwise you risk the cork getting shoved into the bottle. Clean off the knife with soap and water beforehand. Put on a pair of thick gloves to protect your hands.