Straight Wine Corks for Bottling

The driven wine cork is one of the oldest and most studied closures in packaging. A cylindrical cork slightly larger than the bottle bore is compressed by the corking machine and pushed into the neck; once inside, it expands against the glass to form a tight, long-lasting seal. Cork’s cellular structure makes it both compressible and resilient.

Grades range from whole natural cork, sorted by appearance and used for fine and age-worthy wines, to technical and micro-agglomerated corks made from bound cork granules, which give consistent performance and value for wines drunk younger.

We supply straight corks for still red, white and rosé wine, fortified wine, cellar-aged and fine wine, estate and craft wineries, cider and mead, and spirits bottled with a driven cork. Re-corking and restoration of older bottles is another specialist use. Sparkling wine needs a larger-diameter stopper than this range covers; ask us about technical corks with natural cork discs for that. Most buyers finish the neck with a capsule or wax seal.

Corks come in diameters from 22 mm to 26 mm and lengths of 38, 44, 49 and 54 mm, with longer corks used for wines meant to age. Natural corks are punched in one piece; colmated corks have their pores filled with cork dust for a smoother surface; technical and micro-agglomerated corks are molded from granules. A paraffin or silicone surface treatment controls insertion and extraction force, and ends or sides can carry your mark.

Corks are compressed and driven by a corking machine into a clean, correctly sized CETIE bore, with insertion depth and jaw settings controlled so the cork seals without creasing. Stand bottles upright briefly after corking to let the pressure equalize, then store them on their side so the cork stays moist. Tell us your bottle bore, corker and intended aging time and we’ll recommend a grade and size and send samples for a line trial.

Natural corks are punched from graded bark, washed and sorted; technical corks are formed from cork granules that are bound and molded or extruded. All are cleaned, surface-treated and packed for bottling. Dimensional accuracy, extraction force and TCA (cork taint) screening are the key quality controls — ask us for lot test data. We fire-brand or ink-print your logo or vintage on the ends or sides.