corkers?

[Spidy67]

I was wondering if anyone had any reccomendations to a good corker? I have a Gilda Compresion Hand Corker and im not impressed. I was wondering what floor or bench corker would be the best to purchase.

 

[grapeman]

Any of George's floor corkers work great. If budget is an issue- go with the Portuguese Floor Corker.

 

[Spidy67]

I dont mind spending the money as long as i get what i pay for. I thought there was a problem with the Portuguese floor corker, it was scoring some types of corks causing leakage.

 

[Wade E]

I think the problem with Portuguese was with the synthetic corks as they are of a harder material and the plastic compression jaws of this corker struggle a little with them but with regular corks it works great. The Italian is better and not much more but the Portuguese works fine.

 

[smokegrub]

A floor corker is one of the best investments you will make in wine-making. I have the Italian model and love it!

 

[Spidy67]

Thank you for your input, I think i will have a new Italian floor corker here in time for my next batch.

 

[smurfe]

Thank you for your input, I think i will have a new Italian floor corker here in time for my next batch.

Wise decision. I believe you will be very pleased.

 

[MajBob]

How big (tall & heavy) are the floor corkers? Is there a reference page that I can view that describes them in detail?

Thanks!

 

[smurfe]

Here are a few pics I have of mine (Italian)in use. Not heavy and not tall. I am on the shorter side, around 5'7" so you can use that for reference.

 

[geocorn]

I no longer sell the Gilda corker as I don't think it is very easy to use and more expensive than the trusty Portuguese double lever.

 

[Wade E]

The Portuguese floor corker is almost exactly the same size as the Italian with the exception of a shorter handle which you lose just a little bit of leverage over the Italian. The other good thing that the Italian corker has is brass jaws for squeezing the cork wich will work on synthetic corks if you ever choose to go that route and it will outlast the Portuguese. I have the Portuguese and love it but wish I had gone with the Italian Champagne corker with the wine cork attachment.

 

[PeterZ]

I find with the Portugese floor corker that I do get a little scoring of the cork, especially if they are dry. With George's corks, however, I only get a little gas escaping from the score for a few minutes (the air compressed when the cork is inserted) and then the corks swell and seal within a day. I have not had a leaker.