[Growwine] Wine Bottle Closures

[Paul Troop]

For small lot winemaking the crown cap is hard to beat. As a winery we decided to go with screw cap after too many 50+cent cork failures. You don't have to have many cork failures to justify the screwcap machine. 

I will agree with the opinion that screwcaps are not a total solution, you do have to know how to adjust them and the wine really does need to be made well -- but then why wouldn't it be? 

I've seen problems with all closures including Diam, natural, screw caps, crown caps and synthetics. Yes there are a couple of other esoteric closures to consider but for home winemakers I'd vote for either crown caps or Diam. 

Paul
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Wayne Holland 
  To: growwine at littlefatwino.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 7:30 AM
  Subject: Re: [Growwine] Wine Bottle Closures


  For the home winemaker  I advise regular crown caps. I have been using them since the '80's with complete satisfaction and no losses whatsoever. 


  Test: 1986 Zinfandel was made. A year in old barrel with charred oak sticks added. A very promising wine. Several bottles were crown capped with matching 6 cm corked bottles. They have been opened over the years with interested friends and compared and the cap has ALWAYS been the preferred one, if any difference could be noted. Luck has held and all corks remained sound. The last pair were put to the test 2 years ago. Same results.


  Finding appropriate bottles can be a chore as many bottle return depots are now computerized and don't or won't sell bottles to the public. Best bottles are Andres sparkling wine. Tall Riesling 750 mL shape. Also avail in magnum 1.5 L size. NZ Steinlager is a 750  mL bottle that is very satisfactory. I also am quite fond of the clear Corona bottles for rosé or blush wines. They are 330 mL except in the US where they are 355 mL. Also made in 650 mL. Many other beer companies make large format product in the mid 600 mL size and if you can settle in on one size it helps so you don't have to adjust your capper height all the time.


  Note that a slight re-ferment in these strong bottles will not be a problem. You will just have a bit of champagne.


  Crown cap at a penny vs (good) cork at a quarter. Another bonus is that bottles can be stored upright on your cellar shelves which suits me, and sediment settles out on the BOTTOM of the bottle.


  I do cork a few that are to be gifts to people because I don't want to give my good crown cap types away. Some folks are good returners, but most that leave are on a one way trip.


  Last point. A sharpie pen can put a full ID on the cap. No label required.


  regards, wayne

  On 13-Nov-07, at 5:39 AM, J & A Baker wrote:


    I’m looking for some feedback on the above.



    After 26 years of using regular corks, with some nominal / occasional loss, I switched to Noma (synthetic) Corks.



    Now I am not certain that it was a good decision so I am hopeful of receiving some comments on others observations.  I have not experienced serious problems but I do have some concerns about freshness and possible oxidation.  I know that a western US winery undertook a 4 year study on closures and determined that screw caps were the best.  In fact, they even selected a particular type of screw cap to use in their winery.  Unfortunately, screw caps do not appear to be a reasonable option for home winemakers.



    As a part of that comment they alluded to the fact that synthetic corks might be TOO tight, locking in an amount of oxygen when it is corked.  Maybe my concern is unwarranted but observations of others would be appreciated.



    Many thanks,



    Alan Baker



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