# Keeping corks wet



## jdriver84 (Dec 14, 2011)

I just bottled up my first batch from this srping,and was reading that I need to keep wettingmy corks. How often does this take place? Are there other options for keeping the seal? DO you just rub a little water over the corks? set them upright a let some water lay in the space above the cork? COuld you do somethiglike smear vaseline or something on there that wouldn't dry out? lol


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## Runningwolf (Dec 14, 2011)

Are you talking before or after bottling? Do not wet corks before bottling and NEVER use vasiline on them. I am not concerned about my bottles lying on their sides either.


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## Julie (Dec 14, 2011)

The cork should fit snug in the bottle and there should be no reason to wet it down to make it fit again. 

I would never wet or re-wet a cork, I would be concerned of the cork starting to break down. And like Runningwolf said, I would NEVER use vaseline on a cork.


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## Rocky (Dec 14, 2011)

Vaseline! Yikes, you would never get it out ot the wine. 

I remember when I was a "little children" my grandfather used to pour about a tablespoon of olive oil on top of the wine in a gallon jug before adding a cork. This was to set up a barrier to oxygen. When we poured wine from the gallon, we never got all the olive oil out of it and there were little globules in every glass.


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## Arne (Dec 14, 2011)

If your corks fit tight which they should, store your bottles on their sides, or some store them upside down. This will keep the corks wet from the wine. Arne.


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## djrockinsteve (Dec 14, 2011)

I use nomacorcs, synthetic corks. These do not need to be kept wet. I store my bottles upright on my shelves. FYI

Be sure to use the right size cork and do not over fill your bottles.


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## North_Ga_Jug-Or-Not (Dec 14, 2011)

Like Arne said, if you know the cork is the right size and it fits well just wait a few days after you bottle with them sitting upright(in case your bottles start to celebrate lol). After about 3-4 days you should be good, just lay the bottles on their sides and that will keep the cork wet. How theyve done it for a long time. Then just occasionally rotate your bottles(spin 180deg.) and let it age. If you have a lot of bottles, they do make bottle turners now that rotate them for you so you dont develop CT from turning them. Appearantly this is a big problem lately for the folks in wineries/restaurants whose job is to turn thousands of bottles all the time.


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## rhoffart (Dec 14, 2011)

jdriver, I think it's just a little mis-understanding. When someone says you need to keep the cork wet, it is meant from the inside. Keep the wine in the bottle touching the cork by laying the bottle on it's side. I personally store mine upside-down to "keep the cork wet".


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## jdriver84 (Dec 14, 2011)

Ok, I have been keeping them on their sides at a slight angle. I'll give them a 180 turn every so often. How often to you think they need a turn?


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## Runningwolf (Dec 14, 2011)

Ok so I'll open up the can of worms!  First off I've never heard of having to occasionally turn your bottles unless it is champagne on a riddling board rack.

Next I am having doubts on how necessary it is to lay bottles on their side ( I do lay mine down incidentally). Think about it. There are thousands of cases sitting in the wineries stored in cases upright. Then they go to distributors before hitting the retailers. In some cases we could be talking 3-5 years or more. In this day and age we are using better corks and closers and taking better steps to protect the wine with preservitives (meta). Just some food for thought.


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## UBB (Dec 14, 2011)

Runningwolf said:


> Ok so I'll open up the can of worms!  First off I've never heard of having to occasionally turn your bottles unless it is champagne on a riddling board rack.
> 
> Next I am having doubts on how necessary it is to lay bottles on their side ( I do lay mine down incidentally). Think about it. There are thousands of cases sitting in the wineries stored in cases upright. Then they go to distributors before hitting the retailers. In some cases we could be talking 3-5 years or more. In this day and age we are using better corks and closers and taking better steps to protect the wine with preservitives (meta). Just some food for thought.



Well great!! Guess I'll scrap my plans for a wine rack making business!


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## rhoffart (Dec 14, 2011)

Dan, I'm going with Wikipedia on this one.


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## Dougxox (Dec 14, 2011)

First off, don't wet your corks before inserting them, just put them in dry. If you are storing them on a shelf on their side it will "wet" the cork enough to swell the cork. If you are keeping them in their boxes set them up side down for long term storage. If you drink your wine within one year, don't worry. stack them any way you want. 
For less then 5 year storage you can use a #8 cork, if you are laying them down for 4+ years I would go with a #9 cork. 8's are easier to put in than 9's, as 9's are larger around.
Normacorks are plastic and will seal for a lifetime but more expensive than cork and may be overkill if you don't plan on keeping your wine for a long period of time.
For the ulitmate in corking theres the Zork, an all plastic top that you can tap in with a rubber mallet, then to open just peal off the outter ring. The bad thing about a Zork is about 3 times more expensive than cork but cool looking.


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## jdriver84 (Dec 14, 2011)

I don't even know what size cork I used, lol. I don't remember seeing a size on the bag, I'd have to go take a look. They went in pretty easy though. I wet them beforehand, because thats what every how-to on corking I Googled told me to do. I gave them a quick soak, popped them all in, let them sit upright for a week, then turned them down on their sides. I didn't seem to have any issues. I'd like to keep a few bottles of my Dandelion stored away for the long haul, to taste 5+ years down the road. Would there be any issues uncorking ad recorking them with a fatter cork?


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## Runningwolf (Dec 14, 2011)

Jdriver you'll be fine recorking your bottles. Uncork and the recork each bottle right away.


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## Giovannino (Dec 15, 2011)

Rocky said:


> Vaseline! Yikes, you would never get it out ot the wine.
> 
> I remember when I was a "little children" my grandfather used to pour about a tablespoon of olive oil on top of the wine in a gallon jug before adding a cork. This was to set up a barrier to oxygen. When we poured wine from the gallon, we never got all the olive oil out of it and there were little globules in every glass.



That's interesting.

Heck, what difference would it make if you're drinking that wine and eating bread, cheese and olive oil.


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## Giovannino (Dec 15, 2011)

UBB said:


> Well great!! Guess I'll scrap my plans for a wine rack making business!



Don't do that dammit. Especially at the right price.


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## Giovannino (Dec 15, 2011)

Runningwolf said:


> Ok so I'll open up the can of worms!  First off I've never heard of having to occasionally turn your bottles unless it is champagne on a riddling board rack.
> 
> Next I am having doubts on how necessary it is to lay bottles on their side ( I do lay mine down incidentally). Think about it. There are thousands of cases sitting in the wineries stored in cases upright. Then they go to distributors before hitting the retailers. In some cases we could be talking 3-5 years or more. In this day and age we are using better corks and closers and taking better steps to protect the wine with preservitives (meta). Just some food for thought.





I guess it could be both right. Some wine like the Amarone I think, do need to be turned because of sediment. But then, I am no expert.


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## FTC Wines (Dec 15, 2011)

I agree with Dan. But all my bottles are all on their sides, I just think the LOOK more natural on their sides, & keeping the corks wet can't hurt. Roy


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## tonyt (Dec 15, 2011)

Runningwolf said:


> Think about it. There are thousands of cases sitting in the wineries stored in cases upright.



I asked just that question at a winery I visited recently. They said that the bottles were in the boxes upside down. They said that many wineries store case upside down some just invert the bottles.


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## dangerdave (Dec 15, 2011)

I mist my corks with a little sanitizer spray before bottling time. Makes tham slide in easier. I use a hand corker, and I noticed that the dry corks sometimes refuse to go down nicely into the bottle neck.

I also store my wine on it's side.


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## reefman (Dec 15, 2011)

dangerdave said:


> I mist my corks with a little sanitizer spray before bottling time. Makes tham slide in easier. I use a hand corker, and I noticed that the dry corks sometimes refuse to go down nicely into the bottle neck.
> 
> I also store my wine on it's side.



The wine making courses I have attended locally, and the videos I have watched, all say to briefly soak your corks in a Potassium Metabisulfate solution....I agree with DangerDave, dry corks are very stubborn when using a hand corker. I'd love to use Synthetic corks, but at the local HBS they are all almost a buck a piece....that increases my wine cost by about 30%.


Doug


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## North_Ga_Jug-Or-Not (Dec 16, 2011)

@RunninWolf

Besides keeping sediment off of the sides, or just having something to do with agitating the wine im not sure the exact purpose of the turning. I just know that they do in fact do this at restaurants and such. My dad owns a restaurant locally, sports bar and grill nothing that sales $200 bottles of wine. haha But it was him and his gf that were just talking about this recently, she was saying our beer guy was telling her how at some restaurant(in Atlanta I believe) the lady thats turned their bottles for 15 years had CT so bad in her wrist she got some money out of it. Now they are giving them braces and/or electric bottle turners to prevent this. Kinda silly if you ask me, but I can see how twisting thousands of bottles constantly can get a bit sore for a wrist.


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## Lurker (Dec 16, 2011)

Runningwolf said:


> Ok so I'll open up the can of worms!  First off I've never heard of having to occasionally turn your bottles unless it is champagne on a riddling board rack.
> 
> Next I am having doubts on how necessary it is to lay bottles on their side ( I do lay mine down incidentally). Think about it. There are thousands of cases sitting in the wineries stored in cases upright. Then they go to distributors before hitting the retailers. In some cases we could be talking 3-5 years or more. In this day and age we are using better corks and closers and taking better steps to protect the wine with preservitives (meta). Just some food for thought.


Right on Dan. I store them on the sides and occasionally give them a twist. I do think that the corks should be kept wet, but as Dan said, why? Maybe just to follow tradition. As to twisting, I think that it is to hide residue if there is any.


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## robie (Dec 16, 2011)

reefman said:


> The wine making courses I have attended locally, and the videos I have watched, all say to briefly soak your corks in a Potassium Metabisulfate solution....I agree with DangerDave, dry corks are very stubborn when using a hand corker. I'd love to use Synthetic corks, but at the local HBS they are all almost a buck a piece....that increases my wine cost by about 30%.
> 
> 
> Doug



Hi Doug,
I am not trying to take business away from your LHBS, but if they are that expensive, you might consider buying some things via mail order. I do almost no business at all with the LHBS's in my city, because their prices are outrageous. Instead, I buy everything through one of our sponsors in Dallas - The Wine Makers' Toy Store (Ex: $10 less for a 6 gallon carboy after shipping costs). Since I am in another state, I don't pay sales tax. Even after paying shipping costs, I still come out way ahead money-wise. 

If you buy those corks in 100 lots, they are not going to cost you that much.

Also, never soak your corks; if you have to do anything at all, just mist them with Kmeta just before inserting them. George at The Wine Makers' Toy Store puts the corks in a colander and pours Kmeta solution over them just before inserting them. The idea is they don't "soak" in the solution.

Be mindful that when you pick up a wet cork, stuff on your fingers will sort of dissolve onto the cork surface, so be sure to spray your hands first with a good sanitizer.


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## North_Ga_Jug-Or-Not (Dec 16, 2011)

Lurker said:


> Right on Dan. I store them on the sides and occasionally give them a twist. I do think that the corks should be kept wet, but as Dan said, why? Maybe just to follow tradition. As to twisting, I think that it is to hide residue if there is any.



Keeping the corks wet, as far as ive always been told, it has to do with the fact that cork is porous. If it becomes dry, its like a sponge air can easily pass through it. If you are storing wine for a long period keeping the cork wet and the temp correct is a must or youll open a bottle of vinegar bc air was able to permeate through your dry cork. Even if you only plan on a two year storage, im sure most if not all of us have went to open a bottle of wine only to be chewing and crumbling a cork out of the bottle and finishing by just pushing the remainder through into the wine. Then of course getting the pieces of cork out of your glass. haha This means you opened it before it could oxidize. 

Now, if you arent using real cork corks and you are using synthetic then I see no problem storing your wine in any way you see fit. Correct me if im wrong on this point, but I dont see anybody encountering these "classic" problems using a modern "cork". Maybe though, bc even these synthetic corks must permeate oxygen as well, just not at the same rate. When it comes to the turning I could probably find something on the net, but im not looking right this moment. Sediment is first to come to mind. The only other would be to agitate the wine, maybe help the ageing process..?


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