Confused about corks

[cocroach]

Hello, I am relative new to wine-making - only with a few kits and home-made fruit wines under my belt. I am getting to a point where I would like to make some of the higher end wine kits, with more juice/all-juice so I can start to age them between 5-10 years.

I have heard that synthetic corks don't allow for breath-ability unlike natural corks, however, when I was at my local wine-making store the other week, the reps there said that the synthetics are porous and do allow for breath-ability.

Which is true? Are there different grades of synthetics corks?

Thanks.

 

[K5MOW]

Hello, I am relative new to wine-making - only with a few kits and home-made fruit wines under my belt. I am getting to a point where I would like to make some of the higher end wine kits, with more juice/all-juice so I can start to age them between 5-10 years.

I have heard that synthetic corks don't allow for breath-ability unlike natural corks, however, when I was at my local wine-making store the other week, the reps there said that the synthetics are porous and do allow for breath-ability.

Which is true? Are there different grades of synthetics corks?

Thanks.

Rochelle

Well I think synthetic corks is the way to go. That's all I use.

Roger

 

[Runningwolf]

I would not use synthetic corks on any wine I wanted to keep longer than three years. Also bare in mind any corking issues with floor corkers is always with synthetic corks. For a fruit wine or white that is considered a fast drinker I would have no hesitation.

 

[cocroach]

Thanks Roger! Synthetics are definitely easier to use (that would be my preference), but I'd be willing to use corks if the benefits of aging is better.

Cheers.

 

[cocroach]

Thanks Dan. I'll keep that in mind!

 

[grapeman]

Keep in mind there are real corks, corks with a high quality cork disc on each end, agglomerate cords (think chicken nuggets) and then truly synthetic corks. The synthetic corks do not breathe much. The agglomerate corks (ground up cork glued together) do breathe some.

 

[Rocky]

Rochelle, I strongly agree with Dan. If I were truly planning to age wine between 5 and 10 years, I would get the best quality natural cork I could find. I would not consider synthetic for that length of ageing.

In my case, I have a hard time aging wine more than 5 to 10 months, so I could just stuff a Kleenex in the top.

 

[Dugger]

Corks are a very interesting subject and I've read many intriguing articles about them and just when I think I understand something I will read another study that changes that thinking.
Anyway, as I think I understand, cork does not breathe. Its cellular structure makes it pretty well impermeable. The breathing that does take place is probably at the cork/glass interface and through defects/cracks/fissures in the cork material The best corks are made from one piece and have the least defects and are therefore the least breathable and this allows for the best and longest cellaring of your wine. Breathing is not good for long term storage.
Lesser quality corks have more defects and thus breathe more and therefore more suitable for short term storage.
Synthetic corks are made from other "stuff" and the permeability depends on what that stuff is and that is an evolving process. To design a closure that is both impermeable and having the right compression/rebound characteristics is probably not easily achieved. The synthetics presently available no doubt vary in breathablility just like real corks do, but seem to be more breathable than good cork and so are less desirable for long term storage.
I presently use Nomacorc synthetics and have had good results from them. A few of my wines are over 3 years and some are at 4 years with no apparent decline in wine quality (these are almost all reds). I am thus reasonably confident with using them up to 4 years and this suits me well since few will ever exceed that.
For keeping wine 5-10 years, I would agree with others that good natural corks are the way to go, unless you want to consider recorking every few years.
Sorry for the long post, but the issue of breathing for real and synthetic corks comes up quite often and seems to be misunderstood. Or at least I think it is if I understand it correctly and if I don't, please help me to better grasp it!

 

[GaDawg]

I am new to wine making, but the only way I see to keep a bottle for more than a year is to lose it

It would seem to me the cork size also comes into play. A short #9 vs a longer #8

 

[cocroach]

Thanks for all of the comments all!

Keeping wine for even more than two years is going to be a lofty goal for me. I may have to hide them away from myself. (My memory is equivalent to that of a squirrel...so it should work.)

I am looking forward to seeing how some of them age though, particularly the Amarone and Barolo I plan to make, which I understand take a long time to reach their maturity. For these wine, I will definitely invest in good quality natural corks like those mentioned above.

Cheers.