Bottles explode during corking, Help

You should leave 1/2 inch of ullage no matter what corks you are using.

Greg

To be honest in my experience you sometimes need to leave more like

3/4" - 1" with a synthetic cork if you expect it to plug the neck without soon rising above the rim. I presume it is their limited permeability that causes this. With natural corks I have always found 1/2" to be plenty. I have re-corked 6 or 7 wines when I'd left 1/2" gap before the synthetic so I try to be a little more liberal with it now.

Jim

Back to basics. Air is compressible, liquids are not.

I'd be interested to hear replies to that too. Frankly I have been too concerned that I will etch a narrow channel down the side of my cork (when I remove it) and create a leaker. Maybe even fishing line would work. I'd be surprised if leaving 3/4" ullage was a critical problem, but a simpler superior solution would be great :)

Jim

I hate exploding bottles also. here is what I learned:

I agree with Greg,

3/4 inch is what I shoot for. I spend a few minutes with a straw moving wine around before I go into corking mode, but it worth it. I just put the straw into over full ones and place thumb over top - then move the wine to another bottle that needs the wine to get to 3/4 inch from top.

and, yes, I'm a Type A personality with a focus on detail. haha. Except when a glass of wine is in my hand. Then I'm slow, relaxed and friendly.

DAve

jim wrote:

Ha ha, that made me smile. I thought it was only me that crept around with a straw...

Ah! Great feedback Pp thanks for that :)

I will settle for a tiny bit more ullage as a best solution for synthetics...

Many thanks, Jim

Natural corks take longer to decompress and return close to their original diameter and the pressure created will leak out over time if you leave the bottles upright./ That is why the advice is to store them upright for a day after corking. Synthetics bounce back immediately and seal the bottle as they are inserted making them the piston and the bottle the cylinder. They will never leak any of the bottling pressure out and I have always wondered if that is the reason sulfite levels measured in a synthetic corked bottle are often lower, they have more oxygen to scavenge. Sumpremecorq recommended either vacuum bottling or the fishing line trick for homewinemakers. If you use a decent test line and pull it slow it could work. String trimmer line might work better. I use Nomacorc and don't bother, I have wines under them for 3 to 4 years and have no complaints.

As an aside, anyone with a brass jaw corker needs to be careful with synthetics, you need to examine the seal area closely to make sure your corker is not scoring the corc and creating an imperfect seal. Natural corks are much more tolerant. If you are getting scoring the jaws can be adjusted. Iit's a pain to do and the jaws are under a lot of pressure, if you are not mechanically inclined you shouldn't take one apart.

It's good practice to leave 1/2 to 3/4" headspace on wines corked with anything to allow temperature changes to be absorbed within that headspace. A corked wine bottle is a big thermometer....

Joe

Be very careful that the string trimmer line doesn't have raised "cutting edges," as that will no doubt score the cork!

Out of interest, has anyone actual read or conducted studies showing that 3/4" - 1" of ullage produces an inferior result than 1/2"?

If there is no discernable difference, surely a little more ullage is the simplest bet?

Jim

Not here. My wine making partner and I usually bottle about 12 cases at a time and eyeball it. Well he eyeballs 'em and I cork 'em. Probably fall somewhere in the 1/2 to 3/4 range and no I can't taste the difference.

Steve

Good to hear Steve thanks. I couldn't tell the difference so far between those I bottled under synthetic with 3/4"+ ullage and the ones I bottled under natural corks with 1/2" but then none of my wines are over 18 months yet. I do bottle some under each with a view to seeing eventually if I think I can tell any difference, but I think with my newbie nose it is unlikely...

Jim

As Frederick says below, "Air is compressible, liquids are not." Air is also expandable, which means that the removal of the cork when you're ready to drink is a lot easier with a little air space between the wine and the cork.

Rob

Good point. No idea how Andie is going to get those corks back out unless he drills a small hole down through the cork to provide an "airway" to let in some air while pulling the corks. Interesting problem............ ;o)

Frederick

Really? Do you find a difference? Anyone else do this? Very interesting. So you shoot into the top 1/2 to 3/4 inch of space a inert-gas shot - and cork. how do you do that? Like within a few seconds? or once you spray, it's heavy so no hurry? or within a second?

DAve

Rob wrote: