Hi Joe,
I have not given up on naturals yet. I don't know what quantities you
buy in but APM's best are now back to around 20 cents each in
quantities of 1000, I always liked those and never had issues. We
used them up over a few years and never had issues. I have had others
that were gawd awful though.

Right now I am testing Guardian and NomaCork, both are synthetics and
both seem fine. I'm happy to hear Supremecorq made some changes, I
did not like them originally for exactly what Tom discussed.

There are several suppliers of small quantities on the internet,
piwines.com and grapeandgranary.com have both been decent to deal with
in my experience. I'm sure there are others you might like also.
Most sell all kinds, natural and synthetic.

Hope that helps.
Regards,
Joe

"Joe Ae" > wrote in message > ...
> I had never heard of colmated corks before, thanks Charles and Denis!
>
> One company that sells these describes them as "A film of colmating material
> that covers the entire surface of the cork. It effectively seals the corks
> and covers all imperfections.. non-chlorinated cork dust is added".
>
> The last bunch of corks I bought sure had a lot of imperfections so the
> above hits home.
>
> I have always used natural corks because I always wondered what happens to
> the glue in agglomerated corks and now similarly "a colmating material" in
> colmated corks with long term contact with wine.
> I have seen posts that say there is no issue with short term storage and as
> long as you don't soak the corks in sulfite solution before use.
>
>
>
>
> "Denis Marier" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Over here in the Maritimes for the lack of a better thing I try to get
> > colmated long # 9 for the cork size. The long one sells for about $4.99
> CAD
> > for a bag of 30 and the short $3.99.
> >
> > "Joe Ae" > wrote in message
> > .. .
> > > Denis
> > >
> > > I'll follow your advice and examine the next bunch of corks I buy.
> > >
> > > I have bought some Italian wines (MASI) with synthetic corks but I
> haven't
> > > seen them for sale. Also the commercial wines have nice long smooth
> corks
> > > again I haven't found any like that at the winemaking shops.
> > > Are home winemakers destined to sort through corks that have been
> rejected
> > > by the wineries?
> > >
> > > Joe
> > >
> > >
> > > "Denis Marier" > wrote in message
> > > ...
> > > > Corks are on their way out. When buying corks I always ask for a
> sample.
> > > > Then I cut it in two halves and sand the faces to look at the quality
> of
> the
> > > > corks. Acceptable corks are the one made with particles and then
> bonded
> > > > together with a food safe cementing agent. Now in 2004 the quality of
> pure
> > > > corks is too low and may impair the taste of your wine. I have been
> giving
> > > > some # 9 synthetic corks for testing? I will slowly move to aluminum
> screw
> > > > caps. Now I am on the look out for screw top bottles and for the
> > > > standardized caps.
> > > >
> > > > "Joe Ae" > wrote in message
> > > > .. .
> > > > > thanks for all suggestions.
> > > > > The problem is that good corks are hard to find in my area. Any
> suggestions
> > > > > for a good supplier of corks.
> > > > >
> > > > > Joe
> > > > >
> > > > > "Joe Sallustio" > wrote in message
> > > > > om...
> > > > > > It's not the cellar, it's the corks. The top is all that is
> exposed
> > > > > > to air, it's not a lot of surface area. Most cellars atre dryer
> in
> > > > > > the winter than summer, it's not a big deal. Good corks should be
> soft
> > > > > > enough to squeeze between your fingers.
> > > > > > Regards,
> > > > > > Joe
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > I was surprised to find some of the corks broke in half during
> removal.
> > > > > > > At first I thought it was probably that they were bad corks but
> now
> I
> am
> > > > > > > wondering if my wine cellar is too dry. Would the corks
> breaking
> in
> half
> > > > > > > be a symptom of this?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Has anyone else experienced these type of problems with corks?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Joe
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >