I was browsing thru some old issues of Winemaker magazine, and came across a collection of "tips from experts". One that jumped out was a recommendation that one dip corks in sulphite solution and then microwave on high for one minute prior to inserting in bottle. Anybody out there ever heard of this?
Bart
recommendation
I have used this method (without the sulfite) often. Scan down the page in the section on "Filling Bottles" here
recommendation
No. I just boil mine in a covered saucepan half full of water and pull out as I need them. They are nice and sterile and soft!!!
I thought boiling corks would reduce their effective life in the bottle. Does anyone have information about studies along these lines?
FYI - with a wine of proper pH and SO2 levels, there really is no need to "sterilize" the corks. The wine will do a find job of sanitizing the cork once it's in the bottle. The surface area is rather small where the cork is exposed to the wine.
Maybe your experience is different from mine. I use to boil corks for 3 min. befor corking. It did make them nice an soft. But I found that it really brock down the cork structure and 6 months to a year later I could see wine working it's way up the sides of the corks and in many cases leaking all the way through. Also the wine corked this way did not keep well at all. Oxidation happened withing a year or two.
Just my observations. I have not had these problems since I stopped heat treating my corks.
Ray
The only problems I had were all because I was using corks that were about 1-2mm too small. I went with the next higher size, and all my problems vanished. I am also careful to buy real corks, not the glued up composites or plastic corks you see in various and sundry places.
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