Guide No. 1
Revision II
Published on: 22/10/2025
Still wines bottling - Cork stopper application on a cork mouth finish
Scope of application
This guide applies to the bottling of still wines with a cork mouth finish as per the European standard EN 12726 - PACKAGING - CORK MOUTH FINISH WITH A BORE DIAMETER OF 18,5 MM FOR CORKS AND TAMPER-EVIDENT CAPSULES. Supplies covered by this guide are new supplies.
If application is done on another finish, the user shall carry out sealing tests to ensure that this application is technically acceptable. It concerns cork stoppers (as described in the standard ISO 633 - CORK - VOCABULARY) but not synthetic/plastic nor glass stopper.
The designation "Still Wines" does not exist in the legislation according to Council Regulation (EC) No 491/2009 of 25 May 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets
If application is done on another finish, the user shall carry out sealing tests to ensure that this application is technically acceptable. It concerns cork stoppers (as described in the standard ISO 633 - CORK - VOCABULARY) but not synthetic/plastic nor glass stopper.
The designation "Still Wines" does not exist in the legislation according to Council Regulation (EC) No 491/2009 of 25 May 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets
Table of contents
Introduction
1. Scope
2. Presentation of the study
3. Cork closure system
3.1. Presentation
3.2. Functions
3.3. Sealing performance
3.4. Suitability of stopper length / control height of the finish
3.5. Brief physical principles
3.5.1. Definitions
1. Scope
2. Presentation of the study
3. Cork closure system
3.1. Presentation
3.2. Functions
3.3. Sealing performance
3.4. Suitability of stopper length / control height of the finish
3.5. Brief physical principles
3.5.1. Definitions
3.5.2. Pressure developed inside bottles
3.5.3. Hydraulic pressure
4. General requirements
4.1. Health and safety
4.2. Risk analysis against malicious acts
4.3. Traceability of supplies
4.4. Storage recommendations
4.4.1. Storage premises
4.4.2. Environmental conditions
4.5. Personnel and equipment
4.6. Shelf life (Best before date) and integrity of the original packaging of the supplies
4.7. Transport recommendation.
5. Glass bottle
5.1. Presentation of the cork mouth finish
5.2. External profile
5.3. Internal profile
5.4. Storage - Identification
5.5. Storage particularities
6. Stoppers
6.1. Functions
6.2. The various categories of cork stoppers
6.2.1. Characteristics
6.2.2. Inspection conditions
6.3. Storage particularities
7. Overcaps
7.1. Functions
7.2. Main types of overcaps
7.3. Constituent materials
7.4. Dimensions
7.4.1. One-piece drawn overcap
7.4.2. Two-parts glued overcaps
7.5. Storage particularities
7.6. Packaging – identification
8. Equipment and conditions of use
8.1. Prerequisite
8.2. Corking
8.2.1. Cork storage and preliminary operations
8.2.2. Description of the corking machine
8.2.3. Corking defects: identification and correction
8.3. Distribution devices and overcapping
8.3.1. Equipment to be used with the different types of overcaps
8.3.2. Main distribution devices, specifications, operation
8.3.3. Prefolding
8.3.4. Crimping
8.3.5. Heat shrinking
8.3.6. Checking during overcap production
9. End of life
10. Related documents
10.1. Standards
10.2. Cetie
10.3. Others
11. Document history
Annexes
Annex A – Contributors to the revision 1
Annex B — Influence of sugar content on % expansion
Annex C — Example of a filling curve showing changes in liquid level as a function of temperature
Annex D — Alternative method for measuring pressure – Excerpt of Levreau and Lefevre publication.
3.5.3. Hydraulic pressure
4. General requirements
4.1. Health and safety
4.2. Risk analysis against malicious acts
4.3. Traceability of supplies
4.4. Storage recommendations
4.4.1. Storage premises
4.4.2. Environmental conditions
4.5. Personnel and equipment
4.6. Shelf life (Best before date) and integrity of the original packaging of the supplies
4.7. Transport recommendation.
5. Glass bottle
5.1. Presentation of the cork mouth finish
5.2. External profile
5.3. Internal profile
5.4. Storage - Identification
5.5. Storage particularities
6. Stoppers
6.1. Functions
6.2. The various categories of cork stoppers
6.2.1. Characteristics
6.2.2. Inspection conditions
6.3. Storage particularities
7. Overcaps
7.1. Functions
7.2. Main types of overcaps
7.3. Constituent materials
7.4. Dimensions
7.4.1. One-piece drawn overcap
7.4.2. Two-parts glued overcaps
7.5. Storage particularities
7.6. Packaging – identification
8. Equipment and conditions of use
8.1. Prerequisite
8.2. Corking
8.2.1. Cork storage and preliminary operations
8.2.2. Description of the corking machine
8.2.3. Corking defects: identification and correction
8.3. Distribution devices and overcapping
8.3.1. Equipment to be used with the different types of overcaps
8.3.2. Main distribution devices, specifications, operation
8.3.3. Prefolding
8.3.4. Crimping
8.3.5. Heat shrinking
8.3.6. Checking during overcap production
9. End of life
10. Related documents
10.1. Standards
10.2. Cetie
10.3. Others
11. Document history
Annexes
Annex A – Contributors to the revision 1
Annex B — Influence of sugar content on % expansion
Annex C — Example of a filling curve showing changes in liquid level as a function of temperature
Annex D — Alternative method for measuring pressure – Excerpt of Levreau and Lefevre publication.
History
First edition: 04/1992
Revision I: 2007 (for French version) and 2008 (for English versions)
Revision II: 10/2025 - Complete revision of the guide, this version only applies to cork stoppers.
First edition: 04/1992
Revision I: 2007 (for French version) and 2008 (for English versions)
Revision II: 10/2025 - Complete revision of the guide, this version only applies to cork stoppers.
Contributors
AMCOR FLEXIBLES CAPSULES, AMORIM CORK S.A, ANFEVI (Asociacion Nacional de Fabricantes de Envases de Vidrio), ARDAGH GLASS GmbH, ARDAGH GLASS LIMITED, ARDAGH GLASS PACKAGING S.A PROPERTY, ARDAGH GROUP NETHERLAND B.V, ARDAGH GROUP S.A. POLAND, AROL S.p.A., BA GLASS PORTUGAL, BACARDI & COMPANY LTD, BACARDI MARTINI, BERLIN PACKAGING, BERLIN PACKAGING ITALY, BERLIN PACKAGING LLC, BERTOLASO S.p., BRITISH GLASS (British Glass Manufacturers Federation), BUNDESVERBAND GLASINDUSTRIE E.V. (Federal Association of the German Glass Industry), CONCHA Y TORO, CONFÉDÉRATION EUROPÉENNE DU LIÈGE, CORK SUPPLY PORTUGAL, DIAM BOUCHAGE, REMY MARTIN & Co., ENCIRC GLASS, ETS ANDRE ZALKIN &, EXCELLENT CORK, FEDERATION FRANCAISE DU LIEGE, GERRESHEIMER ESSEN, GERRESHEIMER MOMIGNIES, GROUPE CASTEL, GROUPE ICV - CENTRE OENOLOGIQUE DE, LES GRANDS CHAIS DE FRANCE (GCDF), MICHAEL PAETZOLD, MOET & HENNESSY, O-I MANUFACTURING, O-I MANUFACTURING FRANCE, O-I MANUFACTURING ITALY, O-I MANUFACTURING, O-I MANUFACTURING, PACKAGING ALLIANCE EUROPE, PERNOD RICARD, SAROM PACKAGING, SAUDI ARABIAN GLASS CO., SAVERGLASS, STAZIONE SPERIMENTALE DEL VETROFAVARO, TAPI S.p.a., TREFFPACK – C.E. GÄTCKE'S GLAS GESELLSCHAFT, UNSCV (UNION NATIONALES DE SERVICES DES COOPÉRATIVES VINICOLES), VERALLIA FRANCE, VERALLIA, VETROPACK HOLDING, VIDRALA, VINVENTIONS, VINVENTIONS, WIEGAND-GLASHUTTENWERKE, WILLIAM GRANT AND SON'S DISTILLERS
Document under responsibility of working group:
Revision guide n°1
WG chair: Jean-Marie ARACIL - FEDERATION FRANCAISE DU LIEGE (FFL)
This joint group is supervising the revision of GUIDE N° 1 - STILL WINES BOTTLING - CORK STOPPER APPLICATION ON A CORK MOUTH FINISH and supports the updates of its related documents. This guide covers the overall functions and their limits, the functions of each component, the specifications of each of the components in relation to each other, and the appropriate application and conditions to fulfil the overall functions within the defined limits. It concerns mainly the bottling of non-carbonated wines known as "still wines".
