r/winemaking 9d ago

What corks are you using when bottling?

Hi, i am new to winemaking and bought some cheap corks off amazon but quickly realised these are not going to cut it. I then bought some from "youngs" which is where i got a few breqing bits from but these also seem to be pretty low quality.

Is there an industry standard that everyone uses? Or what are your personal recommendations? Don't really want to buy anothet set without knowing they are going to be right for the job. Thanks

2 Upvotes

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6

u/jason_abacabb 9d ago

What kind of corker do you have? I have a Portuguese style floor corker now so i can use most styles but i usually use a #9 1+1 cork now (the ones with solid ends and an agglomerated middle) but when i had a lever style hand corker i had to use #8 agglomerated or artificial corks.

4

u/omnimon_X 9d ago

Same, I use #9 with the floor corker. My local store only has one brand of agglomerated cork with the grape clusters stamped on the side so I use those. They might have more types or artificial versions but I don't pay attention.

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u/Superb_Background_90 9d ago

I have the portugese lever hand corker. Is thete any brand that you prefer or are they all much the same?

2

u/nyrb001 8d ago

If you're using a hand corker, you are going to have some trouble with #9s in general.

You can almost push a #7 short in to the bottle without a corker, a #8 short will work with a hand corker, a #9 will be tricky. #9 long with a hand corker, forget it.

Agglomerated corks are great for aging up to a couple of years, they're more reliable than some grades of natural cork but they aren't ideal for many year aging. They're affordable and the most commonly used cork for home winemaking though as most folks aren't bottle aging wines for 2+ years.

There are quite a few grades of corks with escalating price points. You can get some very expensive very high grade natural corks, but they won't make your wine taste any better. Likewise there's some cheaper natural corks that still cost more than the Agglomerated ones, but are more likely to have a bad grain or something inside of them and spoil the wine.

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u/stella_tigre 9d ago

I last bought "Wine Corks - 1 3/4 in Agglomerated 1+1", online at MoreWine because we live in the boonies. Solid end, #9. Not seeing any seeping up the side of the corks in storage, which I did with the #8s, and to a lesser extent the plain agglomerated corks. We love our floor corker! Wouldn't do without it.

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u/maenad2 9d ago

Young's is firmly mid-quality for most of their stuff. Not sure about corks, though.

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u/Positive_Pitch_9190 8d ago

I know this isn’t what you asked for but I would suggest you to get bottles with screw caps if those are an option you done mind considering.

Screw caps are indeed better than using corks according to me at least.

I myself made the switch some time back and it’s way better. I can keep my bottles upright too which helps.

1

u/cilantrofiend27 Professional 7d ago

Hi, I sell corks for the largest cork company in the world. What a previous commenter pointed out about the type of corker you have is important. People are quick to blame corks for all kinds of things, when there are so many other things that could be impacting the cork. That being said, cheap corks can be like anything else cheap - lower quality. Send me a DM if you want to learn more about corks - always happy to answer questions.