Corks seem to be on everyone’s mind as of late — it must be bottling time! As I think I’ve mentioned before in this column, it’s impossible to sterilize corks and it’s almost impossible to properly sanitize them. Corks are plugs of tree bark, after all. Mold and bacteria are held in check relatively well by cork manufacturers who use ozone, high pressure, sulfur dioxide and all manner of things to knock down the populations of microbial visitors. As I mention above, however, once the bag from the manufacturer is opened (as they are in most home winemaking supply stores) all bets are off as the protective sulfur dioxide dissipates, the corks dry out and mold and bacteria take their toll. This is why many home winemakers choose to attempt to sanitize corks before using them — we clean and sanitize the rest of our winemaking equipment, so we at least make an attempt at sanitizing our corks, right? Also, that little bit of moisture can sometimes help the corks slide better into the bottles since we don’t have the
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