how much of an air gap should I leave when corking my wine?

Hi Wolverine

I just saw your post about no replies to this - I didn't even know this section existed, I just click 'show unread posts since last visit' when I come on the forum, so must have missed this section in the last as its not very busy.  Anyway, in answer to your question, when I bottle my homebrew wines I always leave most of the 'straight' part of the neck of the bottle empty, I definitely don't fill them right up.  So far - touch wood - I haven't been a victim of exploding bottles or the like, and I've also not had any problems with wines going 'off' either.

May be too late, but put a bit of plastic covered wire down the cork when you squeeze it into the bottle, as this lets out the final bit of air, then pull it out after the cork's in place. Any expansion in the bottle, or pressure build up at the neck, won't push the cork back out again!

You probably know this, but it's just a thought!