Corkador mishap

Someone moved my corkador and a lot of the kmeta solution spilled out into the bucket where I had about 100 corks. The corks sat in the kmeta solution for about a week before I discovered the issue. I subsequently air dried all the corks, but I am wondering if they are safe to use? If so, I will just refill the jug with kmeta solution and leave them exposed for a while. If not, guess I will need to buy some corks.

Please share your opinions on the fitness of the corks.

What type of cork (natural or synthetic)? Synthetic would not have absorbed anything, so I'm sure they are ok.

Why risk it? All the hard work you put into the wine is at risk...

They are mostly all bi-disk aggregates. Only reason I am considering it is I was hoping to do some bottling this weekend and nearest source for decent corks is 100+ miles away.

I wouldn't have dried them out. However, you have only dried the outside, so that is fine.

The only risk is that you have k-meta solution in the cork. At a minimum, it will leak into the wine, and you have extra k-meta in the wine. That amount will be small, so should not be a problem.

The k-meta may accelerate the decomposition of the cork. Whether by a significant amount, I have no idea. I'm guessing that a week is not long enough to absorb a significant amount.

The meta solution will definitely break down the cork over time. That's the reason we preach so much about not soaking corks. If I was all ready for bottling, I would go forward and do it. If this is a wine you're going to age and have for several years, I would re-cork all the bottles as soon as you get the new corks in (no need to rush).

Runningwolf--you have corks on your site UF plain Scott 9x1.75 that are almost $1 each. Are these grade 1 corks that will age wine 10 plus years? Cost aside, are they they best and what you recommend??

Thanks, guys. I will defer - as much rain as we have had I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities to find another day for indoor work.

Rocco said:

Runningwolf--you have corks on your site UF plain Scott 9x1.75 that are almost $1 each. Are these grade 1 corks that will age wine 10 plus years? Cost aside, are they they best and what you recommend??

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Yes I use them for some of our wines.

Runningwolf said:

Yes I use them for some of our wines.

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How long will the keep the wine? 10 years?