Corks?

[Applewineguy]

My only question is what is written on the middle of the package Best Use Within 1 Year of Production Date?

Exactly what is written there lol. Corks are recommended to use within a certain time of manufacture. It's a guideline.

 

[Shurt1073]

Care to sell me 500 and ship to Canada?

No ... corks are accounted for.

 

[winemaker81]

My only question is what is written on the middle of the package Best Use Within 1 Year of Production Date?

Liability protection. Natural corks will dry out and become brittle, although I've used corks that were over 20 years old. It's possible the Nomacorc will suffer some degradation with age.

I've used Nomacorc that were 2 yo and have experienced no problems, and wines I bottled in 2018 are holding up just fine.

 

[garymc]

I used some Nomacorcs once. Don't remember much about them except they were easy to get out of the bottle. I've made wine 12 years, over 3,000 bottles all with regular corks except the one batch of Normacorcs and never had a cork failure. I use natural, dual disk, and some agglomerated. The agglomerated are for short term wines. I should open a 10 or 11 year old and see how it's surviving. I use a corkidor and never get my corks wet.

 

[Jusatele]

I have a love hate relationship with natural cork, believe me the age of the cork is in that concept always.
One thing I can not get past is that natural cork is not a 100% barrier and that means the variance of the surrounding atmosphere needs to betaken in for. However, the discussion here seems to be about the age of the cork before use. I have not had good performance after 3 years. I now just estimate years use and buy that amount and chuck what is left over. I also bottle in a lot of bottles that use porcelain and rubber tops, but those are not the same.
So if asked I would say, is this a hobby or business decision? As a hobbyist why do you try to save money?

 

[winemaker81]

As a hobbyist why do you try to save money?

Because I have a budget. Being a hobby doesn't mean unlimited funds.

I also look at the value of what I'm buying, and this applies to everything in my life. The bag of Nomacorcs I recently purchased at $0.19 USD each will do what I need them to do. I wouldn't spend more on a corks that don't do anything better for my needs.

My switch to Nomacorcs was driven by my storage conditions, which are not ideal. I was getting mold on the outside of some corks. Switching to Nomacorcs fixed that, and provides the benefit that I don't have to lay the bottles on their sides (although I normally do).

Folks need to consider how long they will realistically keeping wines.

While we have a few folks that lay down wines for more than 7 years, I suspect that over half our membership keeps wines in the 1 to 5 year range. A high end cork is not needed for that.

 

[Rocky]

As a hobbyist why do you try to save money?

I would ask, As a hobbyist why would I spend more than I have to spend?

Here are the corks I buy:

https://carolinawinesupply.com/prod...900-bag-of-1000?_pos=1&_psq=noma&_ss=e&_v=1.0

16.5 cents each for a #9 by 1 3/4" cork is hard to beat and they do have other Nomacorc's for as little at 15 cents each.

 

[Jusatele]

Then go to flip top bottles, you can reuse the top a lot and only some times have to replace the rubber seal
Bottles are free with the beer

 

[bstnh1]

Then go to flip top bottles, you can reuse the top a lot and only some times have to replace the rubber seal
Bottles are free with the beer

Not sure I'd trust flip tops for more than a few months. Certainly not for long term storage.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Not sure I'd trust flip tops for more than a few months. Certainly not for long term storage.

I bought a few cases of the Grolsch style flip top bottles when my LHBS had a sale. 500ml, so I thought it might be good for my ports. I did a few bottles, but sadly drank them all. Not sure how long they would have lasted.

I’ll be bottling the most recent port in another few months. Hopefully I’ll remember to bottle some in the flip tops. And hopefully let them age. In the interest of science.

 

[Jusatele]

I asked the question and regret it as it made me look self righteous.
I guess I was only expressing my thought that I should buy the best I can for the price I can find in order to produce the best wine I can

I apologize if I ruffled and feathers

here is my take...

Over the years I have switched to flip tops exclusively. Not for cost savings but for convenience.
on the scale of the amount of wines I make, I do not see a great need to save money and purchase decisions are not made on that concept.
After all, 1 liter flip top bottles are expensive compared to free 1/5th empties and corks.
I see more vineyards using plastic or screw top. I wonder what the future holds.

 

[winemaker81]

Then go to flip top bottles, you can reuse the top a lot and only some times have to replace the rubber seal
Bottles are free with the beer

If it seals beer, it will seal wine. Probably better than a cork. Do you stand them up or lay them down?

If laid on their sides, my concern is how the seal will react to the acid in the wine, not only breaking the seal but leaching into the wine. Standing up is the risk-free solution.

I see more vineyards using plastic or screw top. I wonder what the future holds.

Yeah, I'm recycling about 20% of the commercial wines I buy because they are screwcaps. As mentioned, Australia has gone to screwcaps. I expect premium wines will remain corked due to perception, but it's likely our access to corkable bottles will go down.

 

[Jusatele]

Brian good question, I stand them up. All my corked bottles are on a slant that keeps the cork wet. I do buy a lot of wines from vineyards by the case so I have racks and racks to support that.

As far as screw top, yes there is a perception issue there, but then lets face something, most buyers are not going have an are to lay down bottles to keep the cork hydrated, so screw top is a viable solution to the cost of corks