The extra energy that a sparkling wine brings to the table can potentially result in a less than celebratory result, if the cork is expelled unexpectedly and your customer is in the way!
As a cork manufacturer or a user, it's reassuring to know you have a tried and tested method to check you have the ideal balance between ease of opening and safety.
Your needs
All of the sparkling benefits to product quality that your choice of cork construction brings need not come at the cost of safe and reliable uncorking. You want to be sure you have quality assurance methods in place to consistently test supplier lots and the performance of production corking processes.
If you are a manufacturer of these stoppers, then the same methods are ideal to test different cork specifications such as the right coating for the cork’s frictional properties.
Our solutions
The complex process of a human opening a bottle of sparkling wine has been studied by experts in the sparkling beverage industry - in association with Mecmesin.
After an initial twist and push, the pressure of the gas then adds a linear thrust to complete the opening.
Experienced QC professionals rate uncorking effort on a scale:
Dangerous
The cork is expelled too quickly and uncontrollably.
Easy
The ideal range where the user can open the bottle safely and under control.
Difficult
Most customers would likely struggle to extract the stopper.
Impossible
The cork either breaks or cannot be loosened or extracted.
By correlating agreement between these ratings to measured peak torque values, we validated our sparkling wine cork extraction system design.
Our CombiCork solution replicates the helical action of the simultaneous tensile force and a twisting motion of uncorking - applying these actions consistently, in a semi-automated way.
The CombiCork-dV cork extraction tester includes a safety guard and adjustable pneumatic clamps, for a range of bottle sizes - from Quarter to Magnum.
Test results are clearly displayed on the digital gauge screen - peak torque measured during the opening.
CombiCork-dV
Purpose-built sparkling wine cork extraction tester
- Automated 'twist and pull'
- Safe, secure and accurate
- Clear and accurate results
- Tested by CIVC France
The benefits
The ability to measure the critical uncorking parameters of sparkling wine bottles enables you to objectively test and document understand the effects of size, shape, materials and surface treatments. This enables manufacturers and users of sparkling wine stoppers to develop new cork technologies with confidence.
Just as importantly, with the potential for injury, your business can take preventative actions in health and safety.
