# Corks, Zorks or Screw caps ?



## freddie

Looking at bottling in a few months & so need to get serious about closures.
There are so many choices these days that's it's hard to decide what's best. I like cork but getting a high end quality seems hard to find since most supply low end corks based on a cheap price. What should one pay for a good quality cork that will see 5-8 years ?.

Has anyone used the new plastic closures that suit screw top bottles ?. They say they seal pretty well but hav'nt heard much about them. There is also a new product called a "Zork" that looks good and apparantly seals well - any experience with this ?.

Thoughts on crown cap seals - as I have a lot of beer bottles and I was thinking of using them for my short term consumption wine within 12 months. For longer periods of aging I feel I need a better solution.


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## cpfan

freddie said:


> Has anyone used the new plastic closures that suit screw top bottles ?. They say they seal pretty well but hav'nt heard much about them.


Got a name or link for these? With the number of commercial brands switching to screw cap bottles, this could be a very useful product.

Steve


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## freddie

cpfan said:


> Got a name or link for these? this could be a very useful product.
> 
> Steve



The product is called "Novatwist". Here is a link 



http://www.novatwist.com/uk/technical-aspect.html


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## freddie

For those that are interested, here is a link that demonstrates the "ZORK".
Bound to be good for some !!


http://www.ibrew.com.au/html/equipment/corkingmachines/ZORK.htm


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## ibglowin

Interesting in that it says it can be applied by hand. Wonder if it fits the threads on current screw cap wine bottles available in stores today. With more and more wines being put under alternative enclosures, this could be the future for the home winemaker......


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## JohnT

The type of closure sould be decided on the goals you have for aged wine. 

the Factors should include softening vs preserving the wine and just how long you would like to store your wine before it is consumed. 

Of the type of closures there are .. 

Synthetic cork (zorks incluede) - These are good for short term storage of a couple of years or so. They tend to have a higher rate of micro oxidation, thus softens the wine in a rather short time. People that have storred on the zork for extended periods of time (say, about 5 years or more) have discovered a trend of wine becomming oxidized. 

Screw Caps - These tend to provide a very tight, complete seal and have a tendancy to not allow any micro oxidation. Using the screw cap has been found to impede the "age sofening" process. In other words, wine has been found to change very little over time when using this closure. This is not, to say, a bad thing, but would be undesired for those wanting their wine to soften and mellow with age. 

Corks - The old standard. There has been no success in replicating the exact type of seal, density, and longevity of natural cork. The slow, low level of micro oxidation is unduplicated. In the past, there was always the possibility of TCA containation (a condition that has ruined as much as 3 percent of comercial wines). TCA is mostly reponsible for the current resugence of the hunt for alternative closures. Recently, however, research into the root causes of TCA, as well as new quality controll measures have al but eliminated the threat of TCA. 

I do not like synthetic corks as I like to store my wines for 20 years or more. I do like to have my wine soften some (over time) and also really like the "POP" anoucing "something good this way comes".


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## freddie

""The type of closure sould be decided on the goals you have for aged wine""

Thanks JohnTfor that insightful background. I'm with you, and much prefer cork as well. My dilema is in getting a good quality cork for a reasonable price. As I know nothing about good quality v poor quality cork I'm at a loss about what I should be looking at. 

So what should I pay for a cork in wine that I will keep for say 5-8 yrs. Is it 25c, 50c or 80c each ?. Are there any distinctive characteristics that should be present in a good cork.


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## freddie

Hi Mike, yes the Novatwist is designed for the screw top stytle bottles. Also applied by hand.

The ZORK is designed to fit a cork neck bottle. You can apply it by hand but there is fixing tool available as well. I've seen both and they are very neat and easy to open.


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## ibglowin

Your living in the screw top enclosure of the world. It will be interesting to see what comes down the pipe for us amateur wine makers!


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## Sirs

so if what john is saying is true then using synthetic corks is good for basically a short period and you get aging quickly instead of years. If this is so a person could say cork with synthetic in large bottles and then after a few years when the wine should come to somewhat of a peak. you could then re-bottle in regular bottles in screw tops and keep at optimum taste for years..... just a thought


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## JohnT

Sirs said:


> so if what john is saying is true then using synthetic corks is good for basically a short period and you get aging quickly instead of years. If this is so a person could say cork with synthetic in large bottles and then after a few years when the wine should come to somewhat of a peak. you could then re-bottle in regular bottles in screw tops and keep at optimum taste for years..... just a thought



Good point, but wouldn't it be cheaper to simply use a cork (rather than purchase two closures)? 


As far as corks, I buy mine in lots of 5,000 for around .15/cork. My cork guy is also within state so I simply pick them up to avoid freight charges. These are 100% solid natural corks from Portugal. Depending on how much you make, buying big sure pays off.


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## JohnT

Additional... 

There generally are three types of cork. 

Agglomerated - These corks are composed of "cork dust" held together with a binder (or glue). They are typically the cheapest and are only expected to last 2 years (although I have had wine last 10 years or more with these). 

Colmated - These corks are made up of cork "chunks" held together with a binder. These corks are widely used in the industry and are expecte to last up to 4 years (although I have seen wines of 15+ years tightly sealed with these). 

Then there is natural cork. These corks are made from one solid piece of cork and have no binder at all. These corks generally come in 4 grades. Grading in large part depends on the concentration of lenticels (crevasses that look like pores)... 
From lowest quality to highest they are... 

First 
Super 
Extra
Flor

So price depends on the media used and the all over quality. I currently use super natural cork, but have used agglomerated and colmated in the past. Unless you purchase in bulk, I would recommend colmated corks for the type of seal, longevity, and cost effectiveness. 


OK, Enough about wine closures. It's Friday! How about we talk about wine openers!

johnT.


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## ibglowin

There is also a 1+1 cork that many of us use. Its an agglomerate cork in the middle with 2 pieces of solid natural cork on either end (the end that would touch the wine). Sorta the best of both worlds. They are cheap. I paid $0.12ea in bulk. They will easily last 5 years or more as long as they are stored properly.


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## ffemt128

JohnT said:


> OK, Enough about wine closures. It's Friday! How about we talk about wine openers!
> 
> johnT.




Here, here, I be experimenting on this after the daycare pool party this evening. 

It is interesting to hear about the different closures and quality of corks. I have used the nomacorks and also the agglomerated. I did consider purchasing some of the 1+1 but haven't gotten around to it. I need to get the information from Runningwolf as if I do I would likely use his supplier and pay for the branding set up.


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## ibglowin

We are all using the same supplier for the 1+1's.


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## ffemt128

ibglowin said:


> We are all using the same supplier for the 1+1's.



Do you have a link handy? May be the time to look into this again.


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## ibglowin

Sure do.

Lafitte Cork


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## ffemt128

ibglowin said:


> Sure do.
> 
> Lafitte Cork



Sent them an email inquiring about both the 1+1 and the Colmated corks.


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## ibglowin

They were absolutely wonderful to work with. I asked for samples, they sent me out a box of 10 different varieties and about 200 corks total. Must have cost $20 to ship. They actually seemed to want my business. Turn around was quick. I had already designed my cork artwork so all I had to do was send it to them, approve it after they mocked it up and they shipped out the corks in about a week without me even paying for them. The bill was inside the box.

Minimum order is 1000 and set up fee is ~$100. I have mine in 2 of the Mosti AJ buckets with a quart milk jug in the center with sulfite solution. Finally a good use for those plastic buckets!


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## ffemt128

ibglowin said:


> They were absolutely wonderful to work with. I asked for samples, they sent me out a box of 10 different varieties and about 200 corks total. Must have cost $20 to ship. They actually seemed to want my business. Turn around was quick. I had already designed my cork artwork so all I had to do was send it to them, approve it after they mocked it up and they shipped out the corks in about a week without me even paying for them. The bill was inside the box.
> 
> Minimum order is 1000 and set up fee is ~$100. I have mine in 2 of the Mosti AJ buckets with a quart milk jug in the center with sulfite solution. Finally a good use for those plastic buckets!




Wow, that's impressive. For branding I was just looking for a Simple yet somewhat elegant D & O Wine Cellars on the cork. Easy enough. I may have to talk to them. If the set up fee is only $100 and you got the 1+1 for .12 bill would be minimal and 1000 corks would last me a couple years since I only do 300-350 bottles a year.


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## ibglowin

They can help with the artwork I believe to some extent. Shipping is sorta expensive and you will get hit a bit more being a lot further East than me. You would not think 1000 corks would be heavy but they are, and quite bulky. They backfill the bag with SO2 gas then seal it.

They have grades even on these 1+1 corks. Its worth it to just go with the top of the line as they are much nicer and not all that much more cost.

Here is mine.


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## ffemt128

Very nice looking corks. Dan had given me a couple of his. I still have them sitting on the window sill in the kitchen. I'm about non-artistic as they come unfortunately. I'll have to give the artwork a shot and see what I can come up with.


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## ibglowin

I did mine myself by looking around the intertubes for the cottonwood tree artwork, then found a site that made stencils that I was able to try out different fonts. I typed in my winery name, downloaded the mock up stencil, then put it all together in Photoshop. 

Done!


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## freddie

ffemt128 said:


> Sent them an email inquiring about both the 1+1 and the Colmated corks.



I checked out their site. I notice they have 45mm 49mm & 54mm. 

What size do you get for standard 750mm bottles.


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## ffemt128

I would say that the 49mm are probably equivalent to a 1 3/4" long cork. Based on what I remember whey they were trying to introduce the metric system there are 2.54 cm in an inch.


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## Rocky

The 45 mm would be just over 1 3/4", the 49 mm would be just under 1 15/16" and the 54 mm would be about 2 1/8".


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## ajhughes

ibglowin said:


> I have mine in 2 of the Mosti AJ buckets with a quart milk jug in the center with sulfite solution. Finally a good use for those plastic buckets!



How long have you stored corks like this before using them? How quickly did you go through the 1,000? Just trying to decide it 1,000 is to many to order for my wine making pace...


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## ibglowin

This is my first order of 1000. I suspect they will last me ~2 years. I have had them in the "corkadors" now for 5 months. Corks look great, and there is a strong odor of Sulfite when I pull the top off each time to grab corks.


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## ajhughes

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like we're on similar paces. I think I'll give it a go...


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## bstnh1

ibglowin said:


> There is also a 1+1 cork that many of us use. Its an agglomerate cork in the middle with 2 pieces of solid natural cork on either end (the end that would touch the wine). Sorta the best of both worlds. They are cheap. I paid $0.12ea in bulk. They will easily last 5 years or more as long as they are stored properly.





The top of the line 1+1 from Widgetco are 45 cents each per 100, free shipping. I've had no problem with these. They also carry a "B" grade 1+1 that's somewhat less.


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## karalaok

I have been using Zork cork for about 7 batches so far. A bit pricey but I am quite happy with it. No tools needed, just press it down with your hand or a rubber mallet. I paid $32/100 online.


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