Wine/mead cork suggestions

[rabbitmistress]

I am looking for suggestions for corkers that I can buy in bags of 100 (for price and convenience), that will work with my Italian floor corker, and will not dry out if I don't use them within a few months. I bottle sporadically because I'm busy with life I have been using some synthetic corks and some actual cork corks for my bottling. i recently discovered some of my cork corks were leaking (oh my blackberry wine!) and had to take those bottles down to drink. i'm guessing the corks dried up so i've tossed the rest of that bag. so, sysynthetic, semi-synthetic, or agglomerated? what's your feeling for a sporadic bottler with a budget? thanks!
corks b

 

[Unferth]

If angled properly, a natural cork should allow some oxygen into the bottle that experts believe actually helps to age the wine. The wine also keeps the cork moist, so it doesn't dry up. It also expands and contracts with the glass over time, while the synthetic corks do not.

Synthetic corks do prevent 'cork taint' which is a chemical reaction that occurs in a very small number of aged wines caused by a chemical reaction with the cork tree bark.

If it matters, using natural cork is also more environmentally friendly, believe it or not. they harvest the cork without harming the tree, so it is a renewable resource that does not cause deforestation.

 

[rabbitmistress]

I have done quit a bit of reading on cork choices which made my brain hurt I would prefer natural cork for the environment but my understanding is that they dry up if you don't insert them into wine bottles within a certain amount of time (what is that time, btw?). I started with synthetic when I was only bottling 1 gallon at a time. With my mead, I bottle 5gallons every couple months. I thought I would use natural cork fast enough but now I am not sure. Sooo, how long does natural cork last unused and can I store unused corks in something (ziploc bag?) to extend this time? If natural cork could work without drying out if bought in bulk, how do regular and agglomerated compare?

 

[StoneArcher]

I know you just asked some specific questions regarding cork and humidity; Though I can't answer those, perhaps I can aid in the leaking of wine issue.

After bottling, it is usually said that it's best to let the bottles sit upright for three days or so. This is to let out the pressure through the cork from bottling. Then set the wine on the cork, to keep it moist.

A fella that I know did not let the bottles rest, just setting them on their side immediately. Some years later he noticed that the end of some of the corks got a touch of mold on them. (Oddly enough, it was his blackberry wine) Now, this is on the outside of the cork, so the wine was just fine. (It was tasty too!) You may have noticed the leaking on your corks if you didn't let the bottles rest. Just a thought.

Also with the same fella, he noticed a touch of leakage as I mentioned, but that was it. It didn't keep coming out of the cork like a hole or anything. It seems after the pressure was let out it was fine. You may have drank off your stash in fear. (I would have too though!)

Some folks go so far as to let the wine rest on the cork, but letting the air pocket also touch the cork. Thus letting the pressure out and keeping the cork wet. Then needing to rotate the bottles slightly over time. I am not so touchy. But, I also don't have any big wines or meads yet either.