Georges agglomerate corks

[patc]

Hi All,

has anyone experienced white specks from the coating on george's corks floating in there wine after it's uncorked? I have noticed this and maybe that does not happen after there is some age on it? also i noticed in addition to the unsightly specks there is build up of the coating on the bottle where the cork sat? do i have a bad run or is this normal?

 

[LittleLeroy]

I have noticed the build up on the bottles with the last batch of corks I bought. They were #9 1.75 and I did not see that on the #9 1.5 i had before that. Not sure what it was but I still drank the wine.

 

[patc]

well i am glad it's just not me, i have to bottle a few carboys question is i really do not want to have to explain to people what the white stuff is floating in there wine. Maybe i'll give george a call.

 

[Goodfella]

Yeah... You should call George.


Let us know what happens.

 

[tdeyette]

I recently bottled some wine with "George's" corks and also noticed a wax like buildup inside the neck of the bottle. I have not opened any yet so I cannot comment on if there were any white specks in the wine. I assumed it was a light wax coating on the corks, perhaps there was a little too much wax?

 

[patc]

I called george and he said that there is a paraffin coating on the corks and if you notice it in your wine when you open it to let him know as he did have some corks that this happened with.

 

[Big Ike]

Thanks for checking that out.

I've been reusing some bottles lately and noticed the neck not draining like other bottles after brushing and rinsing. Now it all makes sense.

 

[geocorn]

All corks have a parafin coating. The problem is primarily two-fold, age of the cork and soaking the corks.


The parafin coating starts breaking down in about 1 year. We discovered this a year ago and are now rotating our corks to make sure they remain fresh. We go through about 10,000 corks a month, so it is easy to keep them fresh. For this reason, I don't recommend buying anymore corks than you will use in 6 months. This is not just and issue with my corks. It is an issue with all corks, agglomerate, natural and synthetic.


The second problem is soaking corks. Soaking corks is not a good practice. Not only does it soak off the parafin, but it softens the cork which will lead to leaking and bacterial infection in natural corks.


Most of the other corks available, even the Nomacorc, will only protect your wine for a maximum of 3 years. My corks will protect your wine for at least 5 years. Some of my wines are now 8 years old and I have not had one leak yet!


If you have any corks from me that are questionable, please let me know and I will gladly replace them.


As an aside, if you soak your corks in sulfite before inserting them, the specks could be from the sulfites.

 

[Gekko4321]

I bought my corks from Northern Brewer and I can attest that all of these agglomorated corks seem to be dropping white specks into the wine. I ordered a new batch and tested those and still same problem. So if agglomorated corks are dropping white specks due to parafin wax and nomacorcs are not good for aging, what are people doing to get a presentable wine??

 

[Flem]

I use the bi-disc corks. A cork layer on each end with agglomerate in the middle.

 

[Gekko4321]

From what I can tell that is the same product I am using. Once cork in and you wait a few days, then lay it down, then wait a few more, and check wine line. Do you see a white speck or more? All my premium agglomorated NB corks (JD Carlson) are doing this. George tells me all corks have parafin wax on them and this can happen. My impression is if the vets look more closely they may see it.

 

[Wade E]

As said by George, all and he means all corks have a paraffin wax. Ive never had a problem with the specks though. Are you by any chance using a heat gun to put on shrink capsules on the top of these bottles?

 

[Wade E]

Oh, and by the way, I use Georges perfect agglomerate corks and have so since about 2004.

 

[ibglowin]

I used Georges "perfect agglomerate corks" for about 2 years and about 600 bottles of wine. Never had a problem and never saw any white specs. I still have plenty of wine aging in the cellar with that closure without a problem. I found out the hard way that if you spritz the corks with KMETA to sanitize them before hand and insert the cork wet with KMETA that once the KMETA drys it will almost act like "glue" making the cork REALLY hard to extract without a good powerful double lever corker. Those are one tough corks let me tell you! I wanted a custom cork last year and switched over to a 1+1 like Flem is using. I also switched over to a corkador so the corks stay dry and sanitized. They go in easy AND come out easy, just like a commercial bottle of wine.

 

[Bacci]

I use the bi-disc corks. A cork layer on each end with agglomerate in the middle.

the bi-disc cork is the only cork that I have had the white specks happen with. My thinking was that they really aren't meant to be used with a A frame hand corker and some of the cork just shredded from insertion.

 

[Gekko4321]

Hi Wade. I am the guy who posted the heat gun/cork glue issue but after much research and experimentation I no longer believe that was the problem. I took that wine, refiltered and rebottled, and recorked, and did not foil them, and developed the same issue. I then figured it had to be Vinbrite filter or corks and quickly eliminated the filter because every bottle had floaters (although the fibers visible in whites bug me). It must be the corks. Whether parafin or just the glue, all my bottles have an unattractive white speck/muck floating on top. George is sending me some natural corks so will be testing those and get back to you. If I pull a cork and siphon the top of the wine, add wine, then recork, how much O2 risk am I taking? Personally I'd rather risk ruining it all than have an unpresentable wine.