How to store bottles with a Stelvin screwcap?

Vertically.

Either way - doesn't matter as far as I've heard. Martin

I think it may very well matter - especially if you stack cases.

Stelvin closures are very good at sealing in the goodies and keeping air out, BUT if the cap gets dented on the crown - particularly at the sealing surface, which would be the crown's edge - all bets are off.

I first observed this weakness in carbonated soda bottles that lost their fizz because the cap had been dented by hard contact with ???.

Best recommendation would be to store the bottles upright, which makes for easy decanting if the wine throws sediment.

Tom S

Sorry if this looks like rubbish, but I'm having to use google these days thanks to my inexpensive broadband connection having no news server. I dropped out of this for a couple of years as a result (though my almost 2-year old daughter might have a bit more to do with that).

Tom is correct here - damage to the seal around the top will stuff the seal. As a winemaker, I generally prefer screwcaps (and buy accordingly), but this is one of the real issues I have with them compared to cork.

Having said that, we stack them 3 pallets high, with 64 cases to a pallet. So I think that under most static loads they will survive fine. But please protect them from being whacked on the edge. Most new screwcaps are applied with "redraw" which is the additional "step" you see in the top, where the top wad is actually bent over the edge of the bottle. This increases the seal contact area, so they are more resilient than earlier (usually pre-2002) screwcaps.

While I'm on the issue of cork vs screwcap, you are likely to see a major advertising attack by the cork companies picturing their product as environmentally friendly etc. They don't tell you that only 15% of all cork production is used for wine, and that the environmental cost of ruining 6% of all wine with corks in has to be higher than replacing their 50c corks with a 15c screwcap. (Australian dollar costs here).

Cheers,

Andrew

Andrew, do I understand you correctly that in AUS Dollars a single cork is $.50 and a stelvin in $.15 so its thirty five cents less per bottle of wine sealed under Stelvin?

"Richard Neidich" skrev i melding news:I5BMf.4863$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...

Probably right, but then there is the cost of changing your production line which seems to be prohibitive to at least the small Mosel vintners I know. Anders

"Anders Tørneskog" wrote ............

Sorry Anders, I don't buy that!

There are dozens of very small NZ wineries who bottle under Stelvin.

Yes, there is an initial expense, but it pales compared with the cost of spoiled wines.

If the will exists, then the expense is worth it.

Lord,

My primary business is food manufacturer and as such the initial expenses for closures can be quite expensive. In my case a recent change was a quarter million US $$$ just to change to a ziplock closure vs. heat seal and that was on 6 manufacturing lines. so about $1.5 Million US.

I don't know how this would work for Stelvins however many years ago I was associate with A. Bond of Elders Corp of AUS (he was pretty decent here) and we did liquid bottling for juices and closures were quite expensive. Its most important for canning and bottling to avoid contamination.

Oh well, I have been out of that business for about 18 years.

I did not realize cork was that expensive. Its no wonder large wineries would want to make the change.

"Richard Neidich" skrev i melding news:ZDJMf.5024$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...

Well, for a 20-50$ bottle the cork is a minor part, but if you get a faulty bottle return rate of 10% then it's becoming an expensive part... For some reason, I don't find that proportion of faulty bottles in Mosel - more like 1% or even less... Anders

"st.helier" skrev i melding news:jxJMf.109$ snipped-for-privacy@news.xtra.co.nz...

Dunno about small NZ wineries .-) We are talking about yearly productions of 30-50.000 bottles at an average price of 5-10Euros a bottle in Mosel. What's it like in NZ? On the other hand, these Germans have done fairly well for about 1600 years so traditions probably play a part. As I mentioned in another post, there doesn't seem to be that much TCA there anyway. An effect of a cooler climate? I have no idea. Anders

Anders wrote on Mon, 27 Feb 2006 22:39:33 +0100:

AT> "st.helier" skrev i melding AT> news:jxJMf.109$ snipped-for-privacy@news.xtra.co.nz... ??>>

??>> "Anders Tørneskog" wrote ............ ??>>

??>>> Probably right, but then there is the cost of changing ??>>> your production line which seems to be prohibitive to at ??>>> least the small Mosel vintners I know. ??>>

??>> Sorry Anders, I don't buy that! ??>>

??>> There are dozens of very small NZ wineries who bottle ??>> under Stelvin. ??>>

??>> Yes, there is an initial expense, but it pales compared ??>> with the cost of spoiled wines. ??>>

??>> If the will exists, then the expense is worth it. ??>>

so traditions probably play a part. As I mentioned in another post, there

.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Incidentally, Anders it occurred to me question when the cork actually came into use. I have heard different views but I think the Renaissance period is favored. I guess Roman aged Falernian was pretty near what the army drank: vinegar!

James Silverton.

Absolutely right, Anders. The number I heard was ~$50K US. That buys a _lot_ of corks!

Tom S

"Tom S" wrote ..

Tom; You winemaker ! - Me bean counter!

Lets put it this way - assuming that your price of $US50,000 is correct (and I have no reason to doubt that figure!) - let's assume that an average value of a bottle is a paltry $US20 per bottle.

Then that capital cost is recovered by eliminating the losses associated with only 2,500 bottles.

Over (say) 10 years, that is rather a cheap price to pay.

And that is ignoring the fact that a Stelvin capsule is half the price of a top grade cork (again, this is an educated guesstimate!).

Sure, a lot of money to outlay; but frankly - a no-brainer!!!

I think the numbers of 5% and 10% are grossly overstated based upon my personal experience. I consider myself quite TCA sensitive but according to those in this group if I cannot be since my rate is so small.

I find that amazingly high at 5-10%

Perhaps you don't keep bottles as long as needed to find the 5% rate? (I don't know if that rate is justified or not, but just noting a possible explanation if it is)

Jose

Hello st.helier,

You're assuming the wine maker directly absorbs the cost of cork failures. IMHO, the end consumer absorbs the vast majority of such costs. If one were to estimate, for example, that only 1% of tainted bottles are actually returned for a refund, and that 10% of all bottles are tainted, then the cost of the equipment would be amortized over 2.5 million bottles.

TCA contamination is a question of minutes, not of years.

M.

No, 250,000 bottles.

M.

There is a tendency I see in Germany (and also in Austria) to have a serious built-in flaw in the business model of these small growers. All firmly believe into owning their own bottling line. That is absolutely ridiculous when you look at much larger entities, e.g. Bordeaux chateaux, where the mobile bottling line comes in a lorry and pulls in front of the chais.

M.