3 replies to this topic

[cdanprice]

Simple question: Will the Colonna handle the size 9's?

I've seen mixed reviews on this. I want to use size 9's, but I also like the fact that I could use the colonna for bottling my beer as well. What do you guys think?

[rawlus]

i have not tried it, but i wouldn't hold my breath. #9 corks really require mechanical compression and insertion that can only effectively be achieved via the italian or port floor or bench corkers... or any number of pro-duty commercial corkers. i think dual-purpose devices like the colona may do one thing decent but rarely do both things well. better off with a bench capper for beer and a floor corker for wine.

i don't know what you're paying for the colona, but i bought by port corker on sale for $50. you just gotta watch the online sales for a bit.

[Wade's Wines]

Poorly. And with mixed results. When I used one, I ended up going to #8 corks. A floor corker works great with #9's and you get a far better seal than with #8's. I've had #8's begin leaking in a relatively short time.

[Leo Sperrazza]

I have used it with #9 (including synthetics) I also used it for capping sparkling wine bottles, one issue I had was the geared ram on top, while corking one batch, one of the teeth sheared off, I was able to to buy a replacement for less than $5.00, but when I picked it up, the dealer told me that there were 2 others ordering the same part for the same reason.

Leo