Does anyone just cork and skip the shrink wrap?

[David Engel]

Hi All,

A friend brought us a bottle of wine from Eastern Washington from a winery and it had no top on the bottle, just corked. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen this (closest is a screw top).

Is there a downside to not shrink wrapping?

Dave

 

[BigDaveK]

I think it's just cosmetic.
I had a refermentation in the bottle with a batch and since most of my wine is for me I skip the cap (for me). Plus I can watch the corks just in case.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Never used a cap, probably never will. No one I gave a bottle to said “hey where’s the cap”.

 

[David Engel]

Thanks Bob, Dave!

 

[ChuckD]

I don’t… it’s just one extra step for which I have no time.

 

[sour_grapes]

I have never used a capsule.

 

[David Violante]

The only time I do is when I’m gifting to non family members for a special occasion. Otherwise, nope. Actually, that’s not true. I use them loosely to identify what’s what in my wine rack.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Yup me too. When I gift a bottle I slip one on.

 

[ratflinger]

I used to not cap, but I built wine shelves into the end of a hallway, wife thought the bottle displayed better with caps, so now I cap. Not a big deal.

 

[Rice_Guy]

The shrink capsule is decorative, as in if wine bleeds out of the cork you won’t see it. I never do, but I also use synthetic so the bottles stand upright.

 

[Rocky]

I, too, only use a capsule when I am gifting wine to friends and family.

The benefit of a capsule, as I see it, is mostly aesthetic and a little practical in that it keeps dirt from getting to the cork and can be used for identifying various varieties. There is an urban legend, may or may not be true, that the reason wineries started using capsules was so that people could not see the varying volume levels in the bottles.

 

[Cap Puncher]

Capsules are cosmetic. Depending on the bottle, it might look better without. If I could figure out how to capsule spin without a large investment of a spinner, I would. I love the tin capsules.

I use capsules as my coding in my cellar rather than labels (I hate removing labels)

 

[winemaker81]

I'm the outlier in this thread as I put capsules on all wines and liqueurs. These serve 2 functions.:

1. protect the cork. It's not unusual for me to have bottles 5+ years old, and capsules keep the corks clean. Yeah, it's on the outside, but I'd rather pull a clean cork.

2. Visual identification. In the following photo, I have 9 different wines in the rack on the left, and at least 12 in the cubbies not visible on the right.

At the end, the bottles with paper tags are from McGregor Winery in NY. I've been in the Clan Club since 1990, receive wines quarterly, and tape paper tags to the bottles to facilitate identification. It's not unusual for me to have 3 cases of wines of 20 different types.

If anyone makes a lot of different wines, capsules can be a help in the rack. YMMV

 

[David Engel]

I truly admire your collection. You are not a “wine dabbler”!

 

[winemaker81]

I truly admire your collection. You are not a “wine dabbler”!

Thanks!

Many moons ago, a good friend in the IT world made the comment, "No one is as good as they think they are, and this includes me."

I took this comment to heart, and do my best to not take myself too seriously. From my POV we are all students, some more advanced than others, but we are all learning.

 

[David Engel]

Thanks!

Many moons ago, a good friend in the IT world made the comment, "No one is as good as they think they are, and this includes me."

I took this comment to heart, and do my best to not take myself too seriously. From my POV we are all students, some more advanced than others, but we are all learning.

I just visited your site. Outstanding! I think I might spend some time there. I am not shy about asking questions and learning... or sharing what I have to offer.

 

[vinny]

I'm the outlier in this thread as I put capsules on all wines and liqueurs. These serve 2 functions.:

1. protect the cork. It's not unusual for me to have bottles 5+ years old, and capsules keep the corks clean. Yeah, it's on the outside, but I'd rather pull a clean cork.

2. Visual identification. In the following photo, I have 9 different wines in the rack on the left, and at least 12 in the cubbies not visible on the right.

At the end, the bottles with paper tags are from McGregor Winery in NY. I've been in the Clan Club since 1990, receive wines quarterly, and tape paper tags to the bottles to facilitate identification. It's not unusual for me to have 3 cases of wines of 20 different types.

If anyone makes a lot of different wines, capsules can be a help in the rack. YMMV

View attachment 105259

I use caps for the same purpose. They are easy to see in the rack. I skip labels over caps and just mark in my book the color of capsules on a 'utilty' wine.

 

[GSMChris]

I've only been making wine for three years now - and have yet to put a label on any bottle. I just change capsule color to keep track of what's what. I'll probably start labeling with this years crop now that it (at least in part) will be coming from my own grapes.

 

[Ericphotoart]

I put labels but hot shrink only on bottles I give away

 

[Jovimaple]

I use cheap labels that are easily removed with a soak in hot water for all my wines. I use capsules on those wines that are will be aged. I do a mix of quick drinkers and wines to be aged, and decided it's not worth the time and the $$ for capsules if they are meant to be opened within a few months. I also will use screwtop bottles for parts of the quick drinker batches, but those bottles only go to folks who have a good track record for returning the bottles and caps to me.