Facts and myths about cork stoppers

Facts and Myths About Cork Stoppers: The Truth You Should Know

Nature itself has created the highest quality materials that have been used by man since time immemorial and are close to him. One of them is cork, familiar to us, used in the form of stoppers for generations. Despite the fact that the grandfathers of today's winemakers already knew a lot about cork stoppers, we still encounter some "myths" that we would like to put to rest.

Cork is not suitable for young wines, is plastic or screw better?

Cork is also suitable for young wines, it is just a matter of choosing the right cork stopper. For wines with the aim of preserving aromas well, special cork stoppers made of 0.5-1.0mm cork microgranulate have been created, which interact less with the external environment than with a natural cork. Some winemakers prefer alternative closures – plastic or screw, which, however, have their own risks. With a plastic stopper, there is a high probability of oxidation, when the stopper is not elastic enough and after corking, irreversible deformation of the stopper ("memory loss") may occur. A screw cap, on the other hand, hermetically seals the wine, there is no significant binding of sulfur. This poses a risk especially for red wines that need to "breathe and mature". If this does not happen, the total sulfur content can then cause a situation where, in the winemaker's own words, "he cannot recognize his wine" and the wine is undrinkable. Screw caps have not been tested for long-term storage and are prone to leakage during poor handling or transportation.

Does cork have to be “white” to be “disinfectant”?

The white color of the cork is caused by washing in a H2O2 solution, which disinfects the stoppers, but the white color is not a requirement, cork stoppers in their natural brown color are also "clean", the cork is repeatedly disinfected during the production process.

After opening the bag of corks, I smelled a strong odor – are the corks bad?

This is not a defect, but a proper final treatment of the corks before sealing them in a plastic bag. The corks are vacuumed and an SO2 “injection” is added, which guarantees an antibacterial environment. The presence of SO2 may be manifested by its characteristic odor after opening the bag.

When storing, do bottles with cork stoppers always have to lie down to keep the stopper moist?

This is not necessary for wines intended for immediate consumption. If the wine is stored in a way that suits the wine itself, it will be in an environment with sufficient coolness and humidity so that the cork retains its elasticity and sealing ability. In the case of archiving, we traditionally choose a horizontal position.