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is a simpler, cheaper plunge corker, which I have never used because it takes a lot of work and time. Then there’s the old method of banging the cork in with a rubber mallet, left over from the days of smaller corks and dangerous living best left to history.
    There are also nice bench corkers available in some areas and by mail, running from $70 to $100. They are an investment that you should consider if you make more than twenty gallons of wine a year.
    If you want to justify the cost of the corks and corker, remember that you can now buy bulk wine in jugs and bottle it yourself. On the other hand, you can borrow a corker if you know anyone else who makes wine, or possibly rent one from a wine supply place.
    Heat up five or six corks in some boiling water, simmer them very gently for a few minutes, turn off the heat, and submerge the corks with a saucer that is a little smaller than the pan. Soak the corks for four hours, or overnight.
    Why soak extra corks? (They aren’t cheap!) Well, things happen. You may drop them. They aren’t as firm looking once they are soaked, so you may mis-cork and have to recork a bottle. Whoknows? You don’t want to be caught with full bottles and not enough corks.
    OK. Got the wine, got the time, got the bottles nice and clean, got the corks, got the racking tube…we’re off!
    Rack the wine into the wine bottles. Put down some newspaper on the floor to catch any spills. Carefully bend or squeeze the tube so the wine doesn’t overflow. Fill the bottles up to about two to three inches below the top. You have to leave room for the cork!
    Overfilled? Don’t panic. Just tip some out. Do the best you can and don’t worry.
    There will be some sediment (dead yeast) at the bottom of the jug. Better to throw out the last inch or two than have a bottle of cloudy-looking wine. It also might develop an off taste.
    What usually happens, depending on the size of the jug and the size of the bottles, is that you end up with three or four full bottles and a half bottle. Ignore the half bottle for right now.
    Take one of the soaked corks out of the soaking water, fit it into the corker and squeeze the handles to compress the cork. Depending on the model, you’ll see how the cork fits in.
    Place one end of the corker on top of the filled wine bottle,having a friend hold the bottle steady on a flat surface (if you are fresh out of friends, you can kneel and put the bottle firmly between your knees, but the friend is easier and friendlier). Keeping the cork compressed in the corker with your strongest hand, plunge the lever down until you think the cork is seated.

    Corker, ready for action. Note the cork is in position under the plunger, waiting for the two side handles to squeeze together and compress it so it can be pushed into the bottle.

    Corking: My sturdy hands have compressed the cork and are about to plunge the cork into the bottle, which is being firmly steadied by the delicate hand of Lydia, the Human Light Stand. Normally, I wouldn’t be wearing anything as silly as a fringy scarf when bottling, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
    There is usually a lot of resistance, and then it gives up and goes in.
    Corking gets easier with practice, honest. It helps if you have two good strong arms and/or two people, in which case you’ll have four good strong arms. Sometimes you need to put a little vegetable oil on the metal part of the plunger. Sometimes the cork doesn’t go all the way in. Sometimes you can quickly push it the rest of the way in with your thumb, other times you will want to remove the cork and try again. I advocate practicing with some bottles of water a few times till you get the hang of it. So what if you waste a few corks? Better that than a bottle of your wonderful wine.
    When all is said and done, it isn’t that difficult.
    Rinse off the bottles of newly corked wine to get rid of any spills that might make mold. Let the bottles dry, then label them clearly. I use