Synthetic Corks

[Riledup5]

My Italian floor corker lightly scores the Nomacorc 900's I use and I have no leaks. My storage conditions are not ideal, so the temperature varies from 58 F to 72 F. If the bottles were going to leak I'd expect to see it in the summer. [I store bottles on their side.]

If bottles are leaking, I agree that oxidation is a potential problem. OTOH, if the wine is not getting out, I don't foresee O2 getting in more than is normal.

Before I switched to Nomacorcs, I had a problem of mold on the outside of the cork AND about 10% of the bottles exhibited small leaks, more like weeping in the first few weeks or months. I had bottles aged 2 years, that when opened had small amounts of leaked wine inside the capsule, but the wine was fine. IME the likelihood of oxidation appears low -- which doesn't mean we should not address the problem, just that bad results are not as common as may be believed.

After corking keep the bottles upright for 3 days to let pressure normalize, lay a case on its side for a week or 2. If bottles are going to leak, you'll probably see it fairly quickly. If not? Store upright.

BTW -- the 1.5" 900 series is the most common Nomacorcs I've seen on the net. Unless a different series is specified, that's most likely what you get.

Thank you!

 

[Riledup5]

Could you use the milk crates from Home Depot to hold your bottles ? They hold 25 bottles (laying flat) and you could stack the crates.

Thanks Darrell, If I were to lay them flat I guess I would then be worried about them leaking. I ran one through the corker as suggested and didn't notice any scores on the cork. I think it will be OK. It's something I will definitely keep an eye on as the corker gets more use. I've seen in this thread that you can replace the clamps of the corker if they become worn.

 

[Rembee]

@Riledup5, you may have already mentioned it and I missed it but what type, style coker do you have?

 

[winemaker81]

If I were to lay them flat I guess I would then be worried about them leaking.

This is exactly what you want to do. If the cork leaks, you want to know immediately, not down the road.

To avoid a potential mess, get a disposable roasting pan (or anything similar) and place it under the necks of the bottles to catch any drips. You can keep reusing the pan until it falls apart.

If you're not seeing relatively large creases, it's unlikely you'll see any leaks. Not impossible, but unlikely.

 

[Riledup5]

@Riledup5, you may have already mentioned it and I missed it but what type, style coker do you have?

It's a Portuguese

 

[Riledup5]

This is exactly what you want to do. If the cork leaks, you want to know immediately, not down the road.

To avoid a potential mess, get a disposable roasting pan (or anything similar) and place it under the necks of the bottles to catch any drips. You can keep reusing the pan until it falls apart.

If you're not seeing relatively large creases, it's unlikely you'll see any leaks. Not impossible, but unlikely.

Ahhh.... makes sense. I'm a little slow sometimes