John,

I read it within the last few months and I am sure it was discussed on this
site or on the winemaking site. I do not believe they provide a quarantine
in terms of repaying losses but they have developed a test that will catch
taint in the cork at exceedingly low levels. It was touted as something
that could save the cork industry. I think this is provided as a service to
large wineries. It is not used by any of the cork companies directly. I am
sure I am right about the test being available and being used. I am not as
clear on how it is applied. And like I said, I am concerned about what
happens to the bad corks. I am sure there are no laws forcing them to be
destroyed. I think that small and home winemakers may be seeing more than
our fair share of them.

Ray

"J Dixon" > wrote in message
t...
> Ray,
> Do you have any idea what company guarantees their corks to be taint
> free? I was not aware of any companies making such a claim, and might be
> interested in further information. The biggest question if this is true is
> how is this achieved? Is it through just testing the corks, or are they
> treated in some way as has occurred in the industry causing other
problems.
> Thanks for any info you might have.
> John Dixon
> "Ray" > wrote in message
> m...
> > Until recently I insisted on the traditional, natural corks. I felt it
> not
> > only added to the esthetics but since cork is a type of oak it probably
> adds
> > something to the wine.
> >
> > For the first 20 plus years of my winemaking I had no trouble. But in
> > recent years I have had trouble with what I am attributing to cork taint
> in
> > any of my wines that get over 2 or 3 years in bottle.
> >
> > They now have a test for cork taint and the big wineries can by corks
> > guaranteed to be taint free. Unfortunately these are not offered for
> > general consumption and no one admits what is done with the corks that
> fail.
> > I suspect they may reenter the market to people who do not buy tested
> cork.
> > For instance home winemakers.
> >
> > I thought of the agglomerated but they still have cork and may be
tainted.
> > Screw caps are not a good option for home winemaking.
> >
> > This last year I have been using synthetic. One year is not much of a
> test
> > in terms of protecting from taint but I have not had any trouble
inserting
> > or removing the ones I have used. My one complaint is that if I remove
> one,
> > drink part of the wine and then try to reinsert it by hand -- No Way!
> They
> > expand back to their original size which requires a good corker. My
> > solution is to replace with tasting corks for this but this, of course,
> adds
> > to cost.
> >
> > Ray
> >
> > "Joe Ae" > wrote in message
> > news
> > > I am curious what the folks on this forum think. I have looked at
some
> > > recent postings regarding corks. Most discussions I saw were focused
on
> > > synthetic versus cork.
> > >
> > > I have asked a couple of wine supply stores whether natural cork or
> > > agglomerated cork are the better and sure enough I got a different
> answer.
> > > The cost are very similar at these stores.
> > > One vendor claimed the agglomerated corks are only for short term
> storage.
> > > The natural corks can hold together for much longer storage. The
longer
> > > natural corks are the best for long term storage.
> > > The other vendor told me natural corks can have defects due to the
> > > manufacturing process he prefers agglomerated.
> > >
> > > Joe
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>