My first disaster.

[Gumjump]

I just got done bottling and was just about to sit down, when a bottle exploded. I used synthenic corks. The final gravity reading was .0092 so I know it was done. I didn't backsweetin either. It was a Pino Noir. I very carefully got the other bottles downstairs and haven't heard any bombs yet. The only thing that I can think of is I think one bottle may have been touching a metal pan on the counter. But can't be certain. Any ideas on this? Should I be concerned for the other bottles. Or maybe it was a defective bottle.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

What size corks and lengths ?
Type of corker installing them ?

Temperature of wine when bottling ?
did the temperature increase after bottling ?

 

[BernardSmith]

I think we might need a little more information, Gumjump. I can think of three possible reasons.
1. You say that you bottled the wine when the gravity fell to .920 (I assume the extra zeros you included were a typo) but you don't say how many months or weeks ago the wine reached that gravity. If it had dropped to .092 a week ago and you bottled immediately there could be pounds of pressure trapped in the CO2. You don't say whether you are certain that there was no CO2 left in the wine. If there is any likelihood that trapped CO2 was the cause I would open each bottle and pour the contents back into your carboy and either allow the gas to dissipate over time or else use a mechanical means to speed up the process - (a whip attached to a drill or a vacuum to draw the CO2 out, ),
2. That aside, and that would be the most obvious reason for a bottle to explode, you don't mention whether you cleaned and sanitized the bottles. If you had poured boiling water into the bottles or had heated them in your oven and then filled them with wine at room temperature while the bottles were still very hot, any flaw in the glass might have caused the bottle to shatter.
3. The third possible reason goes like this: if you corked the bottle in such a way as to put the pocket of air (between the cork and the wine) under a great deal of pressure and the cork was inserted in such a way that the glass neck or wall of the bottle was more likely to burst open before the cork could be expelled then that might explain the bottle bomb. That could happen if the bottles were screw cap and had been re-corked numerous times (not capped but corked) then it is possible that the walls were inherently too thin to support the pressure the cork was exerting on the walls of the bottle...

 

[Gumjump]

The was .092 3 weeks ago. It is a Vitners Reserve Pino Noir. I degassed with a drill and whip 2 weeks ago. I really didn't do anything different than any other wine I've done. The house temp wa around 70. I used 9X1 3/4 Aglica corks. I sanitized in warm water and put bottles on rack. The were not hot. I siphoned it into a bottling bucket. I used a floor Portuguese Corker.(which I absolutely love). The neck and cork were in tack when it broke. The bottles have been downstairs and no issues as of yet. Do you think with the more info I am supplying I should still transfer to Carboy? It happened like seconds after I finished the last bottle.

 

[Boatboy24]

Was this wine back sweetened in any way?

 

[Gumjump]

No didn't back sweeten.

 

[BeeWine]

The bottle probably was cracked or had a weak spot. When you corked the bottle the pressure created by the cork sliding into the bottle was enough
to cause the bottle to fail.

John
.

 

[buckhorn]

You mentioned that one bottle may have been touching a metal pan -- if the pan was hot, then the temp difference on the glass could have caused the glass to break..

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

So it happened right after you had finished putting the wine in the bottle? Then it cant be the yeast starting back up so backsweetening is not an issue. Did it BLOW UP or just kind of popped a little and fell into a couple big pieces? Every now and again you will tink an empty bottle and start a crack you cant see, also they make millions of them so you have to figure a few might not be perfect. You just slammed a cork into it, put a little bit of pressure in the bottle, just enough straws to cause it to break. I dont think you should have to put everything back into the carboy or worry to much, just dont store them next to the wifes favorite carpet for a little while WVMJ

 

[JohnT]

Open one of the other bottles and check if the wine is at all carbonated. If the wine is still and flat, then the cause must be the glass.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I like Johnt method -
Open a bottle and see if the cork is under vacuum or pressure as you remove it.

 

[Julie]

it was the bottle, no way would re-fermentation would have started that fast plus it would have popped the cork, the bottle would not have exploded. A bottle exploding tells me there was a crack in the bottle.

 

[Gumjump]

I just opened a bottle and there was no carbonation. So it must have been the bottle. When it broke it didn't shatter just big pieces. Let me tell you it sure scared the hell out of me. I'll certainle be more carefull bottling. Hey WVMJ, I made sure they are away from my husbands hunting gear.

 

[Arne]

[. Hey WVMJ, I made sure they are away from my husbands hunting gear.[/QUOTE]

Probably one of your smarter moves. Arne.