Best Corker Recommendations

[mainshipfred]

I had a bottling party last year and had both an Italian and Portuguese set up. For whatever the reason both people corking preferred the Portuguese though I prefer the Italian. As far as the depression I've noticed if the bottle sits long enough the depression seems to go away.

 

[sour_grapes]

As far as the depression I've noticed if the bottle sits long enough the depression seems to go away.

For me, I find the depression goes away faster if the bottle is opened and emptied!

 

[mainshipfred]

For me, I find the depression goes away faster if the bottle is opened and emptied!

Did you come to this conclusion doing inductive or deductive reasoning?

 

[BarrelMonkey]

I bought the Italian (Ferrari) corker, and will probably be giving it its first real outing this weekend (though I've already used it with the crown capper attachment.) I went with the Italian model due to the metal iris (vs plastic in the Portuguese model), though it sounds as if others have have found the plastic version to be sufficiently durable...

 

[CDrew]

The Ferrari has better leverage and a more stable base, but it costs more too. If you only bottle a case or two at a time either will work. If you do 20 cases at a time, you'll be happier with the Ferrari. And if price is no object the pneumatic one looks fantastic!

 

[distancerunner]

@Resonant11 - if you intend to use Normacorc wine closures you need to pay attention to @cmason1957. My own experience, having used Normas (Reserva) for MANY bottles of wine, is the Italian floor corkers (brass jaws) strike a channel in the side of the cork when compressed. Wine drips from this channel. Although every cork suffers, not all bottles drip. However, if wine is dripping, you're at risk of oxygen ingress. And, the wine side of the closures curls up and out on the end. AND, you'll still get that top indent you mentioned in the OP. Those Normas are just so dog gone hard to compress. I personally cannot speak to the Portuguese floor corkers (plastic jaws) and their affect on the Normacorc wine closures or their general use overall.

My blue Italian corker is 30+ years old and works great. It handles all sizes of bottles from 375 ml to 1.5 liter with no problems.

I switched to Nomacorcs a while back, and there is scoring on the side of some corks. I've had 2 bottles in 1,000 leak, which is better than I got from natural corks. YMMV

I have both. Both work just fine.

You can sit and cork with the Italian. It takes less effort to insert corks with the longer arm on the Italian corker. It's easier to use the Portuguese model bench mounted while standing.

The Italian corker tends to fold the cork along the length. Most have sealed well.

I talked to a rep from Waterloo Container (a supplier of Nomacork) about this problem. He said that he'd heard of it. He had no solution to the problem.

 

[CDrew]

I have been using the 900 series Normacorcs the last couple of years since it became harder to find the Select Green 300s that I previously used. The 900s seem much less susceptible to creasing than the SG300s. And since Normacorc recommends the 900 for use with manual corkers, I was thinking maybe they actually know what they are talking about!

With that said, even with the SC300s (I have used 2 bags of 1000), I never had a leak, so my experience with the Normacorcs and the Ferrari floor corker has been positive.