I recently bottle my wine and the instructions stated to lay the bottles on
their sides after 3 days.

I did this and now the corks have a slight seepage.

Is this normal and either way, will a higher quality cork solve this problem?

Thanks

Jim

Sometimes it is not the corks but the corker itself. I used to have
leakers using the Potugese corker with the plastic iris. It left
grooves and punctured the cork at times. When I switched to the
Italian, my leaking bottle problem disappeared.
Tim
> I recently bottle my wine and the instructions stated to lay the bottles on
> their sides after 3 days.
>
> I did this and now the corks have a slight seepage.
>
> Is this normal and either way, will a higher quality cork solve this problem?
>
> Thanks
>
> Jim

> I recently bottle my wine and the instructions stated to lay the bottles on
> their sides after 3 days.
>
> I did this and now the corks have a slight seepage.
>
> Is this normal and either way, will a higher quality cork solve this problem?

Bottle seepage is usually caused by pressure changes in the
bottle/headspace. Seepage can cause the ingress of significant volumes
of air into the bottle resulting in excessive oxidation of the wine.
It should be avoided at all costs.

In long term cases this is usually due to temperature fluctuations.
Usually maintaining a more constant "cellar" temperature is enough to
solve the problem.

In short term cases (like your own situation), the bottling procedure
itself causes an increased headspace pressure. It is common to leave
bottles *standing* just after bottling to help alleviate the pressure
difference (between inside the bottle and atmosphere) and thus avoid
seepage.

Ben

Improved Winemaking
http://members.tripod.com/~BRotter/

(Jandtplus3) wrote in message >...
> I recently bottle my wine and the instructions stated to lay the bottles on
> their sides after 3 days.
>
> I did this and now the corks have a slight seepage.
>
> Is this normal and either way, will a higher quality cork solve this problem?
>
> Thanks
>
> Jim

Could be quite a few variables that caused this; poor quality corks,
irregular bottles, as mentioned, a faulty corker that is damaging the
corks or too much pressure in the bottle still to lay down. If the
wine wasn't fully degassed before bottling, the extra pressure created
will cause seepage. If I was you, I would take the bottles to the
sink and wash them up. Then leave them standing for another few days
to let the pressure equalize without pushing out your wine. I always
stand the bottles for a week before laying down.
Thad

Basic answer - no it is not normal or desirable.

Solution: Could be any of the suggestions or other things but you need to
find out what is causing it.

Ray

"Jandtplus3" > wrote in message
...
> I recently bottle my wine and the instructions stated to lay the bottles
on
> their sides after 3 days.
>
> I did this and now the corks have a slight seepage.
>
> Is this normal and either way, will a higher quality cork solve this
problem?
>
> Thanks
>
> Jim

"StarrFarms1" > wrote in message .

> Could be quite a few variables that caused this; poor quality corks,
> irregular bottles, as mentioned, a faulty corker that is damaging the
> corks or too much pressure in the bottle still to lay down.


Or over soaking the corks. I had that with a few corks I left soaking for a
time before corking.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

Just like to add that some lot of corks are 'silicone washed'. You can
spot this by a sort of greasy wax finish. Some of them are obviously
filled with some sort of wax and it's obvious. Corks like this should
not be soaked at all and doing so can cause the cork to break up when
you try to take it out. Some people boil the corks and this is very
bad for these corks.
Peter
www.thebrewshop.com

I started dipping corks in boiling water on the advise of a very well
respected book on making wine. Every cork that I have done this with has
failed and leaked within a year or two. Maybe less.

Ray

"Peter Hood" > wrote in message
om...
> Just like to add that some lot of corks are 'silicone washed'. You can
> spot this by a sort of greasy wax finish. Some of them are obviously
> filled with some sort of wax and it's obvious. Corks like this should
> not be soaked at all and doing so can cause the cork to break up when
> you try to take it out. Some people boil the corks and this is very
> bad for these corks.
> Peter
> www.thebrewshop.com

Equalization pressure could be the culprit. I, and some others, have used a
small plastic tie wrap around a dowel with the end inserted into the neck
while bottling. After corking, let the tie wrap stay in a few seconds and
pull out. You'll find a fair amount of wine(y) gas will come past the tie
wrap in the neck.

I don't use this practice anymore, it was more just to try it.

"Jandtplus3" > wrote in message
...
> I recently bottle my wine and the instructions stated to lay the bottles
on
> their sides after 3 days.
>
> I did this and now the corks have a slight seepage.
>
> Is this normal and either way, will a higher quality cork solve this
problem?
>
> Thanks
>
> Jim