I hate exploding bottles also. here is what I learned:

I agree with Greg,
3/4 inch is what I shoot for. I spend a few minutes with a straw moving
wine around before I go into corking mode, but it worth it. I just put
the straw into over full ones and place thumb over top - then move the
wine to another bottle that needs the wine to get to 3/4 inch from top.

and, yes, I'm a Type A personality with a focus on detail. haha. Except
when a glass of wine is in my hand. Then I'm slow, relaxed and friendly.

DAve

jim wrote:
> On Mar 9, 2:59 pm, wrote:
>> On Mar 9, 7:51 am, "Andiez" > wrote:
>>
>>> ... Yike!! Do I need to leave a head
>>> space when I use synthetic corks?
>> You should leave 1/2 inch of ullage no matter what corks you are
>> using.
>>
>> Greg
>
> To be honest in my experience you sometimes need to leave more like
> 3/4" - 1" with a synthetic cork if you expect it to plug the neck
> without soon rising above the rim. I presume it is their limited
> permeability that causes this. With natural corks I have always
> found 1/2" to be plenty. I have re-corked 6 or 7 wines when I'd left
> 1/2" gap before the synthetic so I try to be a little more liberal
> with it now.
>
> Jim