When can I wax my wine bottles? 2 min questions

[Gemadrken]

Hey all, sorry if these questions have been asked, i've been searching all over for the answers so I must have missed it.


Main question:

Main question: i'm looking to wax my wine bottles so they look "elegant." I understand wines need to "breathe" through the cork and the waxing will seal off any possibility of breathing. How early can I wax my wines? I understand it likely changes depending on variety.

Question 2: This is less of a facepalm question than I hope you all think it is:
-On highly scientific level, what does corking do for a wine? I've searched up and down to find some type detailed literature on gas exchange and timelines based on variety but i've come up almost completely short.

I'm asking because i have a Brunello, Pinot Gris, and Island Mist Blueberry Pinot Noir that will all be bottle ready in 3 weeks. The Brunello and Pinot Gris are both $170 kits so I don't want to mess them up. The Island Mist Blueberry was $50 and is supposed to be ready immediately after bottling so i'm less concerned for that one

Thanks in advance! I've been looking all over for the answers to these questions; even though they seem so damn simple.

 

[johns455]

I usually waxed right after bottling, I don't claim to know a lot about it but I've never heard of the wine breathing thru the cork.

 

[johns455]

BTW on a side note, if you have a hard time finding sealing wax I make my own, it is really simple 1 part hot glue stick 2 parts crayon, put in a can and melt in hot water, mix together and walah sealing wax.
Works a lot easier if you cut up the glue and crayon

 

[bernardsmith]

Don't wax my bottles but I do make cheese and occasionally wax cheese and cheese needs to "breathe". Not immediately obvious if cheese wax (I use bees wax) prevents any exchange of gases. Certainly inhibits the flow, but I suspect that if it really sealed the cheese and the cheese was still ripening and so producing gases there would be many more problems with cracking waxes and exploding cheeses...

 

[kh54s10]

-On highly scientific level, what does corking do for a wine?

It keeps the wine in the bottle.

 

[Gemadrken]

I appreciate the responses!

-On highly scientific level, what does corking do for a wine?

It keeps the wine in the bottle.

Hah, I study chemistry and physics, not only am I interested in the science but I find it necessary to make the right decision

I guess I could rephrase my question; "does anybody have any information regarding the stoichiometry of O2, N2, CO2, or other gases reletive to winemaking. And why is that stoichiometry relevant to cork or other seals that allow to breathe vs a seal that would not allow the wine to breath."

Basically I want to know:
Which gases go in and out?
About how much of those gases go in and out?
How long does the gas exchange happen?

This information will help me decide for myself when it is appropriate to seal off any possibility of gas exchange. It will also help me decide what types of corks work best for each type of wine; etc...

 

[Yooper]

The short answer is that quality corks allow a bit of micro-oxidation over time. Generally, oxygen is the death of wine but the tiniest bit of micro-oxidation over time helps to age the wine well.

http://winemakersacademy.com/cork-closures-oxygenation/ and http://theconversation.com/corks-seal-a-wines-fate-aging-under-natural-vs-synthetic-closures-35135 for a little (but not terribly scientific) explanation.

 

[Gemadrken]

Awesome; those links led me to the information I needed to reach a whole new level of wine/oxygen relationship(especially the 2nd one). I'll do an in depth write-up soon. I crunched a lot of numbers and did a bunch more research


As far as this thread goes: I've concluded I will be waxing my bottles about 3 days after bottling ( I will tilt my wines and let them seal "naturally" and then wax).


I'm slightly intoxicated atm but here we go:
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This is why I decided to wax my bottles immediately after sealing my cork (whether synthetic or natural). This is assuming cork takes 3 days to seal in proper conditions.

-Oxidization will either kill or age wine; depending on oxygen quantity and the wine's age.
-A wine cork will take in ~1mg of oxygen/year to "age properly." Additionally; a young wine will change character quickly when oxygen is present (swirled in glass) while a very old wine's glory may last only a few moments before oxidizing to its demise

-The "Air" we breathe is:
+~20% Oxygen (O2 gas)(Xg)------} (Grams/volume of the gas)
~80% Nitrogen (N2 gas)(Xg)-----} I have G/V^3 of these 3 in a notebook
~1% Argon (Ar gas)(Xg)----------} I'll add them later

^Yeah that adds up to 101%, you get the idea; deal with it.



Based off this I calculated that [1cm^3(1 cubic centimeter)] will hold ~0.225mg of Oxygen; this is at atmospheric pressure. It will also hold some N2 gas and Ar gas; but atm I consider those irrelevant.

So consider you have between (1cm^3) and (4cm^3)(one - four cubic centimeters) of head space in each 750ml wine bottle, that will hold .23mg O2(oxygen) per Cm^3 (cubic centimeter).

Air volmue to oxygen gas= 1cm^3=.225mg Oxygen

1cm^3= (1x1x1) = "1cm"= 0.23mg Oxygen
2cm^3= (2x2x2) = "8cm" = (8x0.23)= 1.84mg Oxygen/O2
3cm^3= (3x3x3) = "27cm" = (27x0.23)= 6.21mg Oxygen/O2
4cm^3= (4x4x4) = "64cm" = (64x0.23)= 14.72mg Oxygen/O2

*Oxygen in air gas form is in O2. That is 2x Oxygen molecules bonded to each other.

Oxygen gas (O2) has a molar mass of ~32.0g/mole, Oxygen itself is about 16.0g/mole. 1 mole=6.022x10^23 atoms of an element or molecule; it describes an amount of a chemical/element that a chemist can visually work with. I only say this to make sure you understand that in this case O^2=O


Based off of this I conclude:
-If a wine cork admits 1mg oxygen per year to age properly; that oxygen does not necessarily need to be making its way through the cork. It is either already present in the wine, present in the cork, or present in the head space.

A)The oxygen is present in the head space (probably .23-.5mg-1mg oxygen, depending on air volume) is accountable for minimal aging of the wine.

I believe most of the oxygen required for aging is a result of Oxygen present in the must itself. Water under oxygenated conditions will hold up to 8mg/1000ml of oxygen(generally only when intentionally aerated).

I currently don't plan on aging any wines over ¬3 years, so for this recipe theres almost no conceivable way that I would need more than 3mg of avalible oxygen to my aging wine. I'll bet that including all these variables; my wine could happily age for 5+ years.


Summary:
-Corks tend to let in 1mg Oxygen/year
-1 cubic centimeter of air holds about .23mg of oxygen
-The must/fermenting wine itself must contain some level of oxygen, not a lot but likely enough to age properly for 5 years or more
-I'm pretty sure that the cork doesnt necessarilly allow the wine to breathe with the outside atmosphere; I believe it just allows the wine to breathe between itself, the head space, and about 1/2 the cork volume


^Point out my mistakes in that, grammatical or factual; i'll fix them. Its late and i've been wine tasting all night.

 

[Yooper]

Awesome; those links led me to the information I needed to reach a whole new level of wine/oxygen relationship(especially the 2nd one). I'll do an in depth write-up soon. I crunched a lot of numbers and did a bunch more research


As far as this thread goes: I've concluded I will be waxing my bottles about 3 days after bottling ( I will tilt my wines and let them seal "naturally" and then wax)

I just have to ask- why do you want to wax? Are you planning on aging for many years? I've been doing this about 27 years, but never once waxed a wine bottle (except right at gift giving) so I'm very curious!

 

[Gemadrken]

I just have to ask- why do you want to wax? Are you planning on aging for many years? I've been doing this about 27 years, but never once waxed a wine bottle (except right at gift giving) so I'm very curious!

Honest to god; 100% for appearance.

Thus far i've spent a lot of time learning about relevant crafts(fermenting things to greatness); I also hang around mostly with professional trained artists with 4-6 years of art college expierience. (rich parents pay for their non money making crafts)

I would find great pride in creating a product for myself and my artist friends to enjoy that excels both in quality and appearance.

I have nothing of heavier substance to say on that specific substance

I'm sure I can make a high quality tasting/smelling product that people are happy to drink; but to make my craft as memorable as possible to them I want the appearance of my drink to be top of the line.


Honestly though, if theres any chance in the world that corking/waxing/sealing would actually decrease the quality of my wine ( a lesson i'm sure I'll learn the hard way within 2-3 years), I won't wax; unless i'm about to give as a gift. And even then maybe not.

Quality > Appeareance > Sasquach (i dunno, couldnt think of a 3rd thing)