A vortex placed at an initially straight density interface winds it into an ever-tightening spiral. This flow then displays rich dynamics, due to inertial effects caused by density stratification (non-Boussinesq effects), and gravitational effects. In the absence of gravity we showed recently that the flow is subject to centrifugal Rayleigh-Taylor and spiral Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. The latter grows slightly faster than exponentially. In this paper we present computations including gravity with and without and with inertial effects. Gravity modifies the spiralling process and contributes to the breakdown of the vortex. When both effects are allowed to operate together, the resulting flow has a complex radial character, with small-scale structures near the vortex core attributed to non-Boussinesq effects, and large scale roll-up due to gravity followed by breakdown. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.