I'd like to suggest that you re-consider, and opt for draining the bottle. I've made wine for years, and unless you know the yeast culture has been thoroughly killed, it could still be active, subtly producing minute amounts of alcohol, and with it, CO2 gas. This gas build-up is the cause of popped corks and burst bottles in home-made wine. It could take years, but if there is any active yeast and residual sugars in the wine, the very least you'll get eventually is a popped cork. Even if stored on the bottom shelf and contained against leakage, a popped cork (with attendant leakage) or a burst bottle will damage or destroy the label and bottle you'd like to preserve. If you have no interest in preserving the wine, why do it at possible risk to what you do want to preserve? Commercially produced wine might be another story--but with home-made stuff, produced under unknown conditions and unknown quality control, the risk is too great. If you'd like the bottle to retain a "finished" look with cork and cap, I'm sure your nearest home brewing supply shop would be able to help you out with re-corking the emptied bottle and providing a new shrink cap. Cheers (my usual closer, no pun intended) ------------------------------------------------------------ Tim McShane, Assistant--Cultural History Esplanade Museum 401 First Street SE Medicine Hat, AB T1A 8W2 Tel: (403) 502-8587 [log in to unmask] >>> Marielle Fortier <[log in to unmask]> 1/12/2007 4:32 AM >>> I really like Rule #1...everybody who sees the wine in the collection all want me to open if for them. One of our contractors pulled out a corkscrew! lol Thanks for all of the responses. I think we have decided that for now we will store the bottles alone, on a bottom shelf, contained in case of spills and cleary marked. I have a good feeling that if I have yet to knock over the Czec cut glass vase that the wine bottles will do just fine!!! LOL ********************** Marielle Fortier Museum Registrar Norwich University Museum Northfield, Vermont ********************** >From: Pamela Silvestri <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Wine bottle storage >Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 05:41:43 EST > > > >In a message dated 1/12/2007 1:30:09 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, >[log in to unmask] writes: > > >Perhaps we could convince David Lewis to try a sample? > >-------- > >Oh - shessh -- I make one comment about overindulgence, and now all of a >sudden I get nominated "official taste-tester" . . . hehehe. > >While I'm not a huge object-weniee, I do seem to remember learning in my >materials and collections handling class that Rule #1 was, "don't eat the >artifacts" (Yes-siree, those two years spent getting my master's from >Cooperstown >Graduate Program really paid off. LOL) > > >Besides, . . . . Passing the bottle to my left . . . . I think Dave (a >professional conservator) is FAR more qualified to assess the "age" and >"condition" of the objects than I am. > > > > > >lol I agree with Rule #1, if course. The only time I came close to breaking >this rule..years ago (at another museum) we were identifying, cataloguing, >creating condition reports and re-housing artifacts of a collection from >the >Yucatan Peninsula. These were objects that had been collected during the >1920's-30's as part of a field study. A student employee informed me that >she was >going to leave a botanical sample in it's original container (glass >jar/metal >lid) because she couldn't remove the rusted cover. > >I was about to tell her to that would be fine for the time being -to just >note this but I decided to examine the jar first. It had a label on it >which >basically read, "there is no name for this plant, but Mayan woman use this >to >lose weight". At which time I made a futile attempt to open this jar. > >Other than that - well the other day I was setting up mouse traps in the >museum and licking peanutbutter from my fingers as I was going along. >Normally, >I wouldn't do this but I hadn't eaten all day! This too doesn't exactly >count >as breaking Rule #1! > >Pam > > > >Pamela Silvestri, Volunteer Assistant Museum Director >Northeast States Civilian Conservation Corps Museum >Shenipsit State Forest Headquarters >166 Chestnut Hill Road >Stafford Springs, Connecticut 06076 >Telephone: (860) 684-3430 >e-mail: [log in to unmask] or >[log in to unmask] > >========================================================= >Important Subscriber Information: > >The Museum-L FAQ file is located at >http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed >information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail >message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should >read "help" (without the quotes). > >If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to >[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff >Museum-L" (without the quotes). _________________________________________________________________ Communicate instantly! Use your Hotmail address to sign into Windows Live Messenger now. http://get.live.com/messenger/overview ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). 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