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How To Filter Cork Out Of Your Wine
If you did not follow our advice and have yet to invest (just $20, people!) in an electric wine opener, chances are at some point you have ended up with tiny bits of cork in your wine. Open enough wine bottles manually, and it is going to happen. Sometimes it happens because you aren’t paying enough attention and open it at a weird angle. Other times the cork is faulty. When you find yourself in this situation, you are going to want to remove the cork pieces from your wine. Consuming cork is not harmful, but still, I think you’d rather drink your wine with its intended consistency.
From experience, I can tell you that the first thing you will do is grab a mesh strainer. Everyone has one in their kitchen. Unfortunately, a regular mesh strainer is not fine enough to strain out all the little cork particles. It might catch the biggest pieces, but you could have fished those out with a spoon. So, what are you to do? There are three other kitchen items, of varying prevalence, that can help you in this spot.
1. Cheesecloth
The first is a cheesecloth. As its name suggests, a cheesecloth is primarily used to make cheese. But even if you are not in the habit of making your own cheese, you still might have one lying around. Cheesecloths are useful in basting as well as in flavoring stews with herbs and spices. The cloth is extremely fine, so it will easily strain the wine will catching the cork bits. If you have one, you should use it.
2. Reusable Coffee Filter
Unless you are a chef, you are more likely to own a reusable coffee filter than a cheesecloth. In theory, coffee filters are exactly what you are looking for. They are designed to allow liquid (coffee) to pass through, while catching tiny solids (coffee grounds). In a pinch, a coffee filter will do the same for your wine; its nylon mesh is definitely fine enough to prevent the permeation of cork bits. There is just one problem: To keep its shape, coffee filters typically are lined with plastic on the bottom. Your wine can circumvent this obstacle, but it is not the perfect solution.
3. Cold Brew Infuser
Ultra-Fine Mesh Cold Brew Coffee Filter to Use with 2-Quart Mason Jar — $15.95
Whether you own a cold brew coffee infuser will depend entirely on whether you make cold brew coffee. There are not really any other use cases. (Except, we shall see, for filtering the cork out of wine.) Like a regular coffee filter, a cold brew infuser has to be fine enough to keep out grounds. Therefore, it has no problem catching all the itty bitty pieces of cork debris. Made out of stainless steel instead of nylon, this will generally be easier to clean. If you use a regular coffee filter, you risk your next pot tasting like wine. The one thing to note with a cold brew infuser: They are designed to fit into mason jars, so they may not fit your standard wine glass.
Don’t have any of these in your house? Alas, then you will have to actually buy something to get the job done. There are surprisingly few products available produced explicitly for this task, perhaps because many people do make do with the perfectly cromulent substitutes listed above. Search Amazon for “wine filter” and “wine strainer,” and you will primarily find aerators and purifiers. We are not trying to change the flavor of our wine here, we are just trying to drink it. The accomplish that, a funnel-shaped mesh filter will be your best bet:
It is possible you already own one of these if you are in the habit of making homemade jam. If not, it is exactly the tool you need to be able to drink your freshly poured wine unadulterated. Every oenophile should have one.