I bottled five gallons of Rioja a few weeks ago and, as usual, let them stand upright for a few days then put them into a wine rack on their sides. I used conglomerate corks as I don't expect to keep this batch long. They were not soaked before insertion which was with my Italian floor corker. Normally I put on shrink caps but this time I wanted to keep an eye on them. Sure enough, after about a week, two of the corks are showing signs of seepage. One has a small streak of purple right across the cork, top to bottom, so I assume the wine is escaping through the side of the cork. The other has a small pimple of sticky purple goo just off centre.
I would be interested to know what others think about this. Will the seepage cause the wine in the bottle to be damaged? Is it best to leave shrink caps off till any seepage issues are identified or would the caps have prevented the problem? Would soaking the corks have avoided the problem? Should I just always buy better corks? Do others have a different approach to corking? I think Cellar Rat was experimenting with wax seals some time ago.
I would be interested to know what others think about this. Will the seepage cause the wine in the bottle to be damaged? Is it best to leave shrink caps off till any seepage issues are identified or would the caps have prevented the problem? Would soaking the corks have avoided the problem? Should I just always buy better corks? Do others have a different approach to corking? I think Cellar Rat was experimenting with wax seals some time ago.
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