Fluted corks

[YT2095]

I`m sitting here with a nice 3 year old bottle of dry red wine and got to wondering, the Fluted Corks often seen in Champage bottles, HOW do they get them in there? this is a straght cork that`s a little swollen and it`ll hardly fit back in the bottle (contrary to popular beleif, I`m not greedy with booze, only beer).

 

I simply can`t envisage a machine that can compress the cork small enough to fit the bottle neck and come out of the bottle without ripping the cork head off or just pulling the cork back out again. any ideas?

[5614]

that is a very good point, never even thought of it, though i will ask my grandpa who makes some wines [hes retired and has the time!]

[badchad]

Just a guess: Maybe they soak them, which would make them more pliable. When they dry out they get mroe rigid. Kind of like a sponge?

[YT2095]

soaking is part of it, that part is 100% correct, but this straight cork is quite wet also (been in red wine for 3 years) and I can get only about 20% compression out of it with full body weight (yeah, I`m drunk enough to try standing on it with a tape measure for the sake of Science).

 

but the fluted ones!!!???

 

even if it were easy to squish them to fit, how does the machine end-effector get out of the bottle after?

[Callipygous]

any chance we could get a picture of what your talking about? im not too into the sauce so I dont yet know about "fluted" corks...

[YT2095]

I can`t furnish you with a pic at the moment, but if you can imagine and upside down `V` with an Oval shape attatched to the top of it, that`s a fluted cork )

 

O

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[Callipygous]

how extreme of a v are we talking about? gently tapered or more like a funnel?

[YT2095]

funnel like, about 25 degrees at a guess

[Callipygous]

how do you even get that out of a bottle? break off the top and let the rest fall in?

[Callipygous]

as for the question, the soaking thing may work in the other direction, but i dont know how much this could really help. my grandparents are big into wine so they have told me that wine is supposed to be stored on its side so that the cork stays wet to keep it sealed. maybe when its dry the cork shrinks a little?

[YT2095]

well fortunately due to good old Bio-Chem, the yeast waste product (namely CO2) does that job FOR YOU!

 

at ballistic rates when abused LOL

[Callipygous]

yeah, i dont know how they get it in... extreme force combined with a simple machine?(wedge)

 

maybe something that looks like this:

 

\ /

| |

 

where the vertical lines are the neck of the bottle and you just shove the cork down through the wedged part?

[mossoi]

I don't think inserting a champagne cork requires that much more force than a normal cork despite its shape.

 

It seems a lot of machines for inserting corks do it with sheer force (basically a lever that shoves the cork in the neck of the bottle) and do both normal and champagne corks.

 

Here's asome info on a basic cork extractor/inserter, not sure if it was ever made or how old the design is though: http://www.patentbarreview.com/program/mechanic.html

 

For those who don't know what a champagne cork looks like:

 

http://bacchus.ne.jp/images/cork/champagne.jpg

[5614]

[as ive said before, my grandpa's into wines]

he said that it could be put in as a normal looking cork and then it expands, he then however said that during the making of wine [and therefore presumably also champagne] the cork has to be taken out for short periods [for some reason about removing un-needed stuff] and then put back in.

so therefore his original answer cant be 100% correct, unless the cork didnt swell untill after it had been taken out.

 

thought i'd post that to give you something to think/talk about.

 

my grandpa said he'd try to find out!

[5614]

ok, ladies and gentlemen boys and girls the answer is this:

 

The neck of the bottle is stuck into this machine, which freezes it. When the cap is removed, the frozen plus of sludge is kicked out, a "dosage" of Champagne is added to fill in the space in the bottle, and it is corked with the standard, large Champagne cork.

 

Note that the cork does not start out in its wide-thin-wide shape - it starts out as a straight 'tube' shape. It is only the pressure and system of corking that gives it its mushroom head and flared bottom.

 

that is the end of the champagne making process - before hand a screw on top or some such is used.

[YT2095]

where is that info taken from?

[5614]

dunno..... my grandpa's wind buddies!!!!!

 

but trust me, if he says so its right - he's into that kinda thing and grandpas esp. mine wouldnt lie if he didnt know - he started off by saying he werent sure, then he found this; maybe he asked someone?

[YT2095]

that`s great and thanks for the data, it would be cool if you could perhaps direct me to a website and maybe furnish me with a diagram or two if possible )

[5614]

http://wine.about.com/library/types/bl_champ_proc.htm

(pics and text all there)

 

is the place where he got it from.... and incase that isnt good enough, he said that the data was verified by someone [his friend] who had done it, so about.com may be unreliable for some reason [not that im aware it is, seems ok site to me] but if for some reason you were to think it unreliable, this should prove your thought wrong!

[mossoi]

As an interesting aside. Supposedly the wire cage around the cork is always secured with six 180 degree twists (number of turns on the little loop that you have to undo). So far I've not encountered a bottle of champagne that has more or less than this number so the anecdote appears to hold true.

 

I want to confirm or disprove this so may I propose an international experiment? Each time you open a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine count the number of times you need to twist the loop and report that number here along with the brand of drink.

 

If you would like to help but don't want the hassle of opening and drinking a bottle then feel free to send me any spare champagne bottles you have and I'll do it for you!