Get Rid Of The Cork! 3 Alternative Ways To Seal Wine Bottles

People have been using corks to seal wine bottles for centuries. It's an effective way to make sure that all of the wine stays in the bottle and does not receive too much oxygen too soon. However, there are also problems with using a cork to seal your wine bottles. Chemicals, such as trichloroanisole or TCA, have been found in corks. These chemicals are then passed down to the wine beneath them, resulting in the phenomena known as cork taint. This is frustrating, especially for small wine sellers who are only able to produce a few crates of wine bottles each year. 

In order to avoid these problems, many people have started to seek out alternative methods of sealing wine bottles. See if any of these are right for your needs.

1. Man-Made Corks

The first option is to use man-made corks. These corks are made out of bits of plastic and other synthetic polymers. Because they do not contain any ingredients that occur naturally, there is no risk of TCA contaminating the cork and subsequently the wine. The main issue with this type of cork is that there is a chance that air will be able to get into the bottle sooner than a normal cork would allow, spoiling the flavor of the wine. However, this is a cheap alternative and does not require a wine buyer to open the bottle using any other method than what he or she is used to.

2. Aluminum Seals

A second option is to use an aluminum seal. This type of seal does not go directly into the bottle. Rather, the aluminum seal covers the top of the bottle and seals it against any early oxygenation. This is a slightly more expensive option than using a regular cork or a man-made cork, but it allows people to open the wine without needing to use a corkscrew and ensures that no oxygen reaches the wine. A disadvantage that is associated with this method of closing a wine bottle is that it might keep too much air out and cause the reduction of overall flavor in the wine if it is stored for too long.

3. Hermetic Seal

Finally, there is the use of the hermetic seal, which is where a glass stopper is used in tandem with a cork in order to keep out oxygenation but also prevent the wine from coming into contact with the cork, stopping possible cork taint. The main disadvantage is that this method of sealing wine bottles is the most expensive of all of the methods mentioned.

For more information, talk to a company that specializes in aluminum seals.