[xbeerd]

Hey everyone, my wine batch has been doin well but as of late i have been noticing what appears to be mold on the bottom of the inside of the cork. Nothing has changed as far as the taste of the wine.

is that what it probably is? and what might have caused it? i will try to get a pic later.. my camera battery is dead at the moment.

also, some of the corks it looks like a syrupy (im guessing its just sugar etc) seeping from the center of them. any idea?


Thanks!
Scott

[Wade E]

Ive had a few of those and pulled them and replaced them with Georges Perfect Agglomerate corks which are a mixture of synthetic and natural so you get the best of both worlds. What you have now are cheaper natural corks and in my opinion will ruin some of your wine especially in not so good cellaring conditions. If you had perfect conditions they would last longer but still not great corks. Im guessing that you soaked the corks also before inserting and that is not a good idea as even if you were or are using k-meta the sanitizing abilities wont last and then the introduction of liquid will make any possible bacteria trapped in the cork start to grow.
I highly recommend these and buying a floor corker also, it will make your wine making much more fun and easier and faster.
<table ="Catalog" id="products" align="center" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><t><tr><td ="table" align="default" width="2%"><div align="center">2320A </td>
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Straight Corks - Fine Vine Wines Perfect Agglomerate #9 X 1.75 (Bag of 30)


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Edited by: wade

[PolishWineP]

How are you storing your bottles? Laying down or standing up?

[Aaronh]

According to MattSkinner,winery's are moving away from ,"cork",corks and using synthetic or screw caps.
<DIV id=ms__id106>
<DIV id=ms__id107> The sad myth that only good wines use natural corks is way off track. Natural corks , no matter how well you soak them, wax them, humidifyand lay the bottles on there sidewill fail long before synthetic or screw caps. Natural corks will bring off flavors that were not meant to be in the wine. In short natural corks is justnostalgic and romantic.
<DIV id=ms__id112> I had the privilege of tasting some wine from New Zealand tonight with Steve Bird from Bird Winery and John Hancock from Trinity Hill Winery. They both used screw caps on there 30 and 33 dollar bottles of wine. I asked them, "why screw caps", and they confirmed it preserves the flavors so the wine tastes like they intended them to today and years later.
<DIV id=ms__id110>
<DIV id=ms__id111> I wish I wasn't on the clock because these guys had allot of advise and pointers that I would have enjoyed more if I didn't have to run and grab fresh glasses, water, wine, beer for the bar and maintenance calls.
<DIV id=ms__id114>
<DIV id=ms__id113> Its up to you what you want to cork your bottles with but natural corks leave room for nature to turn its wicked head.Edited by: Aaronh

[xbeerd]

thanks for the comments! my next batch will have sythetics (already got them)

and to answer your question pwp.. they are stored on their side.