A paper written by Mr. Walter A. Riley, F.C.S., a Fellow of the Chemical Society, was presented on January 22, , regarding the history and use of corks and stoppers in bottles, at a meeting held at Brewers Hall, Addle Street, in London, England. Mr. Riley stated in that paper, 'a great many methods have been invented for the purpose of closing bottles containing wine, spirits, beers, cider'and of these, the only ones in use commercially are corks.' He continues with, 'Although cork is perhaps one of the least known substances with which we come into daily contact it is yet one of the most important items in the bottling of wine, spirits, beers, and mineral waters.'
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Riley reveals that in his research the first mention of cork was in the mid-sixteenth century and says it was 'principally used for making soles,' continuing with, 'in fact, we can find no trace of its use as a stopper till the seventeenth century, when it is said that a monk name Dom Perignon was the first to use a close-fitting cork.'
After reading his paper, one ascertains that about was when stripping the bark of a live oak became a regular and recognized procedure, and this process began to supply the world with cork. In , the Department of Agriculture in the United States distributed a large quantity of cork-oak acorns to various points in the south Atlantic and Gulf states, in the Southwest, and throughout California to determine if the species could be successfully grown in America. By , 10,000 seedlings of cork-oak were distributed to these same regions hoping that in the near future America would commercially cultivate cork and become a country to add to the list of countries mentioned in the following list.
By , the chief cork-producing countries had forests with production as follows:
Wine bottles get corked, with corks made of cork. This wasn't always the case; but when it became important for better wine storage and delivery, the dilemma to be solved was: how could one insert and fix a cork into a wine bottle easier? Challenging, but during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when winemakers bottled their own product more often than not, they found they needed tools or devices to assist with the process.
The cork needs to be inserted into the bottle in an easy and safe manner. Inventing a tool to insert a cork into a bottle in a single motion would involve placing the cork in the mechanism, positioning the bottle correctly, and pulling the lever(s) down until the cork was fully inserted. The main difference between these corking tool inventions throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, comes down to speed.
Several different inventions were designed to create tools to assist with the conundrum. All of these inventions provided a way to cork a bottle one at a time. As one can imagine, the process to cork a bottle took a great deal of time, eventually being replaced by an assembly-line approach to bottling. Nowadays, there is a wide range of wine corkers from semiautomatic corkers, push button corkers, and vacuum corkers. The small home winemakers still may use in many cases, these early designs that are described in this article.
To start with, cork corks are known for their elasticity. That is, they can compress to about half their width without losing any of their flexibility; which makes them good closures for wine. Corks are usually cut larger than the opening of the bottle they are going into. And, they are also usually compressed before being inserted into the neck of the bottle.
The earliest corking tool in the Wine History Project collection has a patent dated circa , and the latest corking tool is from the s. The Wine History Project collection has obtained five different types of these early cork inserters, sometimes also known as corkers or drivers:
Patent #35,385, 'Corking Bottles' by Redlich Manufacturing was patented May 20, . The label, which was glued to the early corking bottle tool stated,
'Redlich's Apparatus for Corking Bottles. H. Redlich Inventor. Instructions: Soak the cork, drop it into the opening then hit with a mallet or hammer. Redlich Manufacturing Co., Chicago.'
Redlich Manufacturing Co., was owned by Otto Henry Redlich, Jr., William F. Redlich, and Rudolph Redlich that were in the business of corks, faucets, etc. Their location was 375 -377 North Clark in Chicago, Illinois as listed in The Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago which was a complete general and business directory, miscellaneous information, and street guide published in , compiled by Reuben H. Donnelley, and printed by R.R. Donnelley & Sons, Printers, The Lakeside Press. An index to advertisements in this directory acknowledges that Redlich Manufacturing Co. was in business as liquor dealers.
Fifteen years later, The American Brewers' Review, Volume 16 dated July through June , where an advertisement appears on page 27 that states Redlich Manufacturing Co. was established in , and at least by the advertisement in this directory, O.H. Redlich, Jr. and Rudolph Redlich were then owners of a bung and cork business, which was located at 2 to 12 Oak Street, Chicago, North 479 dealing in brewers' clarifying shavings and chips.
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American Brewers' Review, page 105 dated January ' December , lists Redlich Manufacturing Co., of Chicago; incorporators Otto H. Redlich, Jr., Bernard S. Schoffel, and Alexander E. Redlich, with a capital stock of $250,000 and in the business that manufactures bottlers' supplies.
By July , according to The Western Underwriter, a weekly newspaper of insurance, the business in Chicago was now referred to O.H. Redlich Manufacturing Company.
Another method for this hand-held device was patented August 25, as, 'Apparatus for corking bottles' and was invented by John Sommer, Jr. (-). This tool was identified as the BEST STAR model.
As of November 14, , the Sommer Faucet Co. was located at 355 Central Avenue, Newark, New Jersey and owned by John Sommer, Jr.
French nineteenth-century corking machines on mortise and tenon framed wooden stands were popular during this time period. There were used for for both champagne and wine bottles. The Wine History Project has in its collection one from San Francisco. It has a long handle that sends the plunger into a hole. The plunger handle is lowered. There is a gear located under the machine for raising and lowering the round base that holds the bottom of the bottle. Someone would have sat on this at the winery, corking each bottle as it was handed to him.
The Wine History Project's wood bench cork inserter combines the wood bench with a take on the stand-up bottle corker. See illustration /patent description of a cork driver patented in .
These corkers compress and drive the cork just like the hand corker, but they do it in one single action. You load the cork and pull the handle. As you start to pull down on the handle the cork is being compressed. Then at the end of the handle's throw, the cork is driven into the wine bottle. This single, swift action makes the corking process move along a bit faster.
Although it may appear to be complicated, it is actually quite easy to use. Bottles are placed on the platform one at a time and a weighted lever cranks down to insert the cork. The lower basin collects any wine that may spill over in the process.
Want to learn how to use a wine bottle corker? Then here's some information that you will definitely want to take a look at'
Just as the name sounds, a wine bottle corker is a tool that is used to insert a cork into a wine bottle. It compresses and plunges the wine cork. Below are some tips on how to use a wine bottle corker and how to get the cork into the bottle with minimal effort.
So there you have it, the essentials of how to use a wine bottle corker. All-in-all you'll be surprised at how simple it is to cork a bottle of wine. It's a fun part of the wine making process and one that's just perfect for getting the whole family involved.
Happy Wine Making,
Ed Kraus
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Ed Kraus is a 3rd generation home brewer/winemaker and has been an owner of E. C. Kraus since . He has been helping individuals make better wine and beer for over 25 years.
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