For The Love Of Port

Has anyone tried to add (or add to) the wax seal on wine bottles before?

I was thinking about this based on this thread on Storing T-Corked Colheitas upright.

I have some a couple of bottles of old Sauturnes where I'm noticing some very tiny "syrupy" dots of liquid coming coming out of a small tear on the top of the foil capsule. It kind of reminds me of condensation, and i probably wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't have been sticky to the touch. These are birthday bottles of wine I am hoping to stretch 5 more years, so was contemplating either getting replacement heat-shrink foils to put to over the top of the existing one to seal out any air, or possibly dipping them in "bottle wax" to create a wax seal over the existing foil seal.

Just wondering if anyone has waxed their bottles before?

I know that Tom has quite a bit of experience with re-waxing and over-waxing, but I haven't seen him online in a while. Hopefully he'll chime in.

Just a thought, most foils have air punches in them, so you'd probably be better off with wax if you'd like a better seal against air.


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Tom's advice can be found here.

Thanks!

A lot of online homebrew/home winemaking stores sell the wax, and you might be able to find it at a local store as well.
http://www.homebrewing.org/Bottle-Seal- ... _2208.html
I've not done it, but I know some homebrewers that have. I don't think they found it particularly difficult.

If You promise not to laugh, I will show You mine....

Rewaxed an old Niepoort last week. No matter what it may look like... it is compleately airtight!

I picked up some wax on Amazon. Will give it a try this weekend and let eveyone know how it goes :)

Stewart T. wrote:I picked up some wax on Amazon. Will give it a try this weekend and let eveyone know how it goes :)

Please do!

Also, the tip about using a can for the wax (melted in a waterbath) is a great idea. The winery I used to work for basically did a big version of that before they nixed waxing bottles. Made cleanup wayyyy easier.


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Bradley Bogdan wrote:

Stewart T. wrote:I picked up some wax on Amazon. Will give it a try this weekend and let eveyone know how it goes :)

Please do!

Also, the tip about using a can for the wax (melted in a waterbath) is a great idea. The winery I used to work for basically did a big version of that before they nixed waxing bottles. Made cleanup wayyyy easier.

That's how my grandmother melted wax when she would can fruit.

Wasn't able to get to this project over the weekend, but will post my experience once I've given it a try.

Footnotes to my previous instructions, don't forget to degrease the neck of the bottle with acetone, and keep your greasy mits off the neck after doing so.

By weighing bottles after waxing and then re-weighing them a couple of years later, I've established that my method really does work well, but only when the necks were degreased. Early waxing efforts of mine where this was not done have sometimes shown physical seepage further down the line, and weight loss is significantly greater.

I have experimented with waxing over old foil capsules, but it is not terribly satisfactory. There is always some air between the foil and the bottle, and the heat of the wax makes this expand to form a ring of bubbles in the wax along the edge of the foil. If these are popped and sealed with a match flame, and the bottle dipped again, you get a bulky but otherwise good capsule, but unless you particularly want to preserve the foil, taking it off is better.

Bear in mind that there is a vast spectrum of wax types on the market and not all are going to work well. If someone can find a good match for the British wax product Stateside that will save shipping costs, but given how little the wax costs relative to the value of the bottles, it might be more sensible to get a box shipped across the pond and then divvy it up..

Thanks Tom, I remember some of your very early posts here and one of the most intriguing was your post discussing your process for applying wax to create a capsule. I remember way back when trying to arrange to get corks sent to you.

Given how we and forums age, what goes around comes back around and then again and always seems to bring something fresh to the discussion. Much appreciated!

Tom Archer wrote:I have experimented with waxing over old foil capsules, but it is not terribly satisfactory.

I had an '85 Ferreira last week that waxed over the foil. Is the old foil that's the issue, or just foil?

Is the old foil that's the issue, or just foil?

If the foil is absolutely snug to the glass, with no air gaps, then no problem, but if there is any air underneath, the heat from the wax expands it, forcing bubbles in the wax.

Those old wax over foil bottles have to be the messiest to open - as you take the foil off, small bits of hard wax ping across the room..

Tom Archer wrote:

Is the old foil that's the issue, or just foil?

Those old wax over foil bottles have to be the messiest to open - as you take the foil off, small bits of hard wax ping across the room..

I prefer the wax over foil than just wax. I find it easier to remove. I slice the wax off with the bottle in the sink.