Should labels and shrink wrap be applied before bottle aging or afterwards?

Pino wrote:

>Should labels and shrink wrap be applied before bottle aging or afterwards?
>
>
>
>
I don't think it really matters.

On Sat, 25 Feb 2006 14:19:48 -0500, "Pino" > wrote:

>Should labels and shrink wrap be applied before bottle aging or afterwards?
>

Bottle BEFORE the point at which you forget what wine is in which
bottles! :-)

I did that once -- bottled 3 batches of red wine the same evening, but
didn't bother to label them because I knew I'd remember which cases
where which. A month or so later I discovered, to my chagrin, that my
memory was not quite as good as I had thought it was.

I had to taste a bottle from each case to determine which was which,
so it wasn't a total loss ...

Does the shrink wrap slow down the aging of the wine since the cork can't
breathe?

"Jake Speed" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 25 Feb 2006 14:19:48 -0500, "Pino" > wrote:
>
>>Should labels and shrink wrap be applied before bottle aging or
>>afterwards?
>>
>
> Bottle BEFORE the point at which you forget what wine is in which
> bottles! :-)
>
> I did that once -- bottled 3 batches of red wine the same evening, but
> didn't bother to label them because I knew I'd remember which cases
> where which. A month or so later I discovered, to my chagrin, that my
> memory was not quite as good as I had thought it was.
>
> I had to taste a bottle from each case to determine which was which,
> so it wasn't a total loss ...

"Pino" > wrote in message
...
> Does the shrink wrap slow down the aging of the wine since the cork can't
> breathe?

No

"Jake Speed" > wrote in message
...
> On Sat, 25 Feb 2006 14:19:48 -0500, "Pino" > wrote:
>
>>Should labels and shrink wrap be applied before bottle aging or
>>afterwards?
>>
>
> Bottle BEFORE the point at which you forget what wine is in which
> bottles! :-)
>
> I did that once -- bottled 3 batches of red wine the same evening, but
> didn't bother to label them because I knew I'd remember which cases
> where which. A month or so later I discovered, to my chagrin, that my
> memory was not quite as good as I had thought it was.
>
> I had to taste a bottle from each case to determine which was which,
> so it wasn't a total loss ...
>
You are so right. I still have some mystery wine that I forgot to label
several years ago. Label when you bottle!

Ray

Corks don't breathe per se, the seal improves with time after initial
insertion. That's why you stand bottles up initially, to let the air
you pumped into the wine when the cork was inserted leak out as it
equalizes the pressure. Once the cork re-expands it's sealed. That
only applies to real corks.

Capsules were originally made of lead and were used to keep the mold
down when wine was stored in damp cold areas. Now it's mostly
esthetics's, the bottle just looks better with a capsule.

Joe


> Does the shrink wrap slow down the aging of the wine since the cork can't
> breathe?
>

Thanks Joe
You answered my question!
My main concern was whether the capsule helped fight mold on the cork during
aging. Also whether the label would develop mold after a few years.
Unfortunately as someone else mentioned it is easy to mix-up the batches if
you don't label at bottling.
I guess more importantly is the humidity level in the wine cellar. Although
it is no easy task to maintain the humidity at around 70%.

..

"Joe Sallustio" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Corks don't breathe per se, the seal improves with time after initial
> insertion. That's why you stand bottles up initially, to let the air
> you pumped into the wine when the cork was inserted leak out as it
> equalizes the pressure. Once the cork re-expands it's sealed. That
> only applies to real corks.
>
> Capsules were originally made of lead and were used to keep the mold
> down when wine was stored in damp cold areas. Now it's mostly
> esthetics's, the bottle just looks better with a capsule.
>
> Joe
>
>
>> Does the shrink wrap slow down the aging of the wine since the cork can't
>> breathe?
>>
>

Pino wrote:

> Unfortunately as someone else mentioned it is easy to mix-up the batches if
> you don't label at bottling.

You can mark the bottle, or the cork, or the capsule instead of a label
to prevent that. It's faster and it works pretty well. I use short
pieces of mailing labels with codes like C 03 (for Cab 2003) attached
to the top of the capsule. It's actually better than a label that way
because I don't have to pull the bottle out of the rack to see which
wine it is.

Pp

sometimes the simplest ideas are the best
thanks
Joe

"pp" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Pino wrote:
>
>> Unfortunately as someone else mentioned it is easy to mix-up the batches
>> if
>> you don't label at bottling.
>
> You can mark the bottle, or the cork, or the capsule instead of a label
> to prevent that. It's faster and it works pretty well. I use short
> pieces of mailing labels with codes like C 03 (for Cab 2003) attached
> to the top of the capsule. It's actually better than a label that way
> because I don't have to pull the bottle out of the rack to see which
> wine it is.
>
> Pp
>