Newbie question about coeking vs screw caps

[rowlettr]

Newbie question about corking vs screw caps

I am as ignorant about wine making as is possible. I therefore have a very basic question:
I am about to start making some blackberry and grape wines at home. I have ordered the kits and supplies. What I want to know is why would I want to cork my wine in bottles instead of putting it in something easier such as 2 liter plastic bottles with screw on caps, or just keeping it in 1 gallon glass apple juice bottles with the screw on cap that came with the bottle?
I would plan to drink the wine within a couple of months of bottling.

 

[JohnT]

OK,

Have you ever left over bottle of wine? Perhaps one that is 1/2 filled and is over a week old? would you drink it? This is what you will be doing when you put your wine in a large container. Every time you pour a glass, you will be replacing the wine in the bottle with AIR!

Wine and long term air exposure are like oil and water. They simply do not mix.

The great thing about 750ml bottles is that they contain about 4 good size glasses of wine (2 if you are me or one of my friends). The chances are that you would finish a 750ml bottle in rather short order and not have a 1/2 full bottle laying around.

As far as caps or corks....

It is a matter of preference. With closures, you will find two camps. One camp swears by caps as a good air tight seal and very economical. another camp cites tradition, controlled oxidation, and perhaps even a little flavor that a cork brings to wine.

To me, the "POP" sound of uncorking a bottle is like a small reward for hard work. It is simply better then the crack of a screw cap. I also see is as a pride thing. Screw caps have a stigma as a sign of cheap wine that I want to avoid.

Hope this helps

johnT.

 

[cpfan]

rowlettr:

When I ran an LHBS, I had one customer who always bottled in one gallon jugs with screw caps. He would pour the gallon jug into a wine bottle when he needed some bottles of wine. He had a collection of 1500, 750, and 375ml bottles to use. He said this simplified storage and he required a minimum of bottles.

BTW, he replaced the caps occasionally as he thought they wore out or became difficult to clean. It also depands on which style of caps are used -- the polycaps are probably best.

Steve