Cork Problem

[Mamgiowl]

I have a puzzling situation. I bottled some wine a month or so ago and unfortunately it started to re-ferment in the bottle. As I didn't want exploding bottles everywhere I decided to decant and put it all back into DJs. When I started to uncork, two or three of them were dark reddish brown inside and disintegrated into a million crumbs as they were pulled out of the bottle. The wine has been stored on its side in a wine rack, but all the corks were very dry, however most didn't break up. The ones that didn't do not have the discolouration.

Any idea how and why this happened? I'm completely flummoxed.

[rjb222]

There are a couple of things i have to ask Mamigowl ! how old were the corks when used? 2 how were they stored? 3 did you do anything to them before insertion like boil them or soak them?Sorry I asked three things can't help myself.

[Mamgiowl]

No probs with extra question, Robert - I can cope

The corks were bought about 6 weeks ago (fortnight before use), and they were stored in their packet in a kitchen drawer, all were from the same packet.

They were the ones that said "Do Not Soak", but I dipped them in diluted steriliser just before insertion.

[rjb222]

Ok then what kind? Agglomerated or natural or conglomerated.Do you have any left over? If you do are they soft or hard?What I am leaning towards is if the corks were old before being bought or if they were just bad corks. I don't see anything wrong with your practices. I had a customer come in the other day with a similar problem it was the first time in my store he showed me the corks and they were already hard and easily broke apart just by rolling them around under my hand on the counter. So his were bad when purchased.

[Duffbeer]

Iv'e had this too Jan, it's the cork quality some batches contain one or two poor ones, certainly nothing you could have known about.

[NorthernWiner]

Jan, I suspect the corks were old and the glue used for binding just came undone from being in contact with the liquid in the bottle.

FWIW, I've had the same problem before, too, and stopped using agglomerated/conglomerated corks for that very reason. I've since gone to synthetic Nomacorcs for short-lived wines, and good quality natural cork for everything else.

[Mamgiowl]

Thanks for your input everybody, it's much appreciated.

They were natural corks, and not the cheapest, but I guess from what you all say I was just unlucky. It's a worrying situation though. I wonder what would have happened if I'd not had to decant the wine. I have visions of the corks going critical and wine all over the floor.

Anyhoo, this brings me to a supplementary question, viz. What is the optimum storage time for corks and are there better ways of storing them other than in their packet in a kitchen drawer?

[Duffbeer]

In a small bucket with a jar of sulphite inside pierce the lid of the jar and keep the bucket lid snapped tight.

[NorthernWiner]

Sorry, Jan. When you said crumbs, I assumed they were the cork paste manufactured types.

The only time I've ever experienced crumbling natural corks is from soaking too long before corking. But it sounds like that wasn't the case here.

Cork is funny material. I often buy them in lots of 1,000 (better quality and price in bulk). In a single bag, the quality varies immensely and there are always bad ones, sometimes as many as 5% of the total.

Maybe you just happened to come across a few bad ones and the rest will be alright.

[rjb222]

I live in an area where there is a large population on immigrant Portuguese and Italian I have heard numerous complaints about this years batch of corks . Some have asked me if I could source anything different for them. I don't know where they sourced these corks but they are natural they are supposed to be winery grade they are claiming these are brittle and they do not want to bottle with them. The Portuguese club is supposed to bring me some to look at and se if I can source any thing better.I was reading I think on wine press that someone would order corks for people they used in their winery and do believe the time line given for use was around one year. The reason given was the corks dry out and become crumbly and brittle after that.I know my wholesaler says I need to throw out corks that are over a year on the shelf so I only bring in amounts that are going to move in a couple months then they the corks are always fresh and supple.

[lockwood1956]

Jan

you may wish to think about the corks available at Brouwland.com We will be oprganising a "trip" to their facility in May next year, we could bring you some fab quality corks back

[Zebedee]

We will be oprganising a "trip" to their facility in May next year

Do they do steam juicers ?????

[Her Lushness]

Ooooo, I'm after a steam juicer now as well.... Zeb, if you get a decent one at a good price can you let me know, and if I see one I'll tell you too?

[Zebedee]

the only thing thats stopped me getting one is Bob mentioned that they were around half price in mainland europe.

[Mamgiowl]

Jan

you may wish to think about the corks available at Brouwland.com We will be oprganising a "trip" to their facility in May next year, we could bring you some fab quality corks back

Yes please, I would be very grateful