The Turn of the Screw

TCS Daily ^ | 12 December 2005 | Stephen Bainbridge

[NautiNurse]

The wine industry is screwing around with corks...

[NautiNurse]

Click to be added or removed. (Over ninety members).

Wine news ping.

[groanup]

La Bernardine Chateauneuf-du-Pape

pronounced Chateau-newf-du-pop. One of the best table wines for the money I have had.

[sinkspur]

Wine snobs will have a hard time eschewing corks, but they'd better get used to screw tops. They're cheaper, and, as the article says, preferable.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

They're cheaper, and, as the article says, preferable.

I know some women who say the same thing about electric vibrators.

[Nick Danger]

I have a hard enough time eschewing beef jerky. Are corks worse?

[The Great RJ]

Boxed wines are also preserved from air contact after opening because the plastic bladder doesn'r require internal air to pour. I've had some great Aussi wines in boxed containers.

[pissant]

I don't think it will get too far. the sentimental attachment to real cork also keeps most from using the rubber corks too.

The price of wine includes the vintners/sellers fudge factor to cover spoilage.

Then again, I'm mainly a beer drinker! ;o)

[speedy]

I like the corkscrew ritual. Corky wines are not one of life's major problems. I vote for keeping the cork.

[Rushmore Rocks]

For some reason I keep thinking of Redd Foxx and his "cham-pipple" Anyone else as old as I?

I have several wine snob friends who will definitely eschew the screw caps because..........well, they are wine snobs.

I've had some quite nice boxed wines from Australia. Not all things modern are bad things.

[Rushmore Rocks]

Oops, should have read further. I like Australian box wines.

[johniegrad]

The loss rate from cork approaches 15% for some closures. How can any industry withstand that rate of waste?

[NautiNurse]

I am a waffler about the cork situation. I voted for the screw cap the last time I used my manicure kit to open a wine bottle. On the other hand, I am heavily invested into an over-the-top estate corkscrew purchased barely two years ago.

[manwiththehands]

I've heard of big-time wine connoisseurs buying cases of classic vintages only to find the corks dried out allowing the wine to turn to vinegar.

[johniegrad]

bttt

[johniegrad]

I was extremely lucky. I stumbled onto 6 bottles of Bertani amarone vintage 1986 at an out of town discount house and bought all six. They must have been stored properly because I didn't have a bad cork in the lot. This is unusual. At $160/bottle I got lucky.

[OSHA]

Corkscrew? When was that invented. I've been knocking the neck off against the edge of the bar.

[Tunehead54]

Synthetic corks suck. If they're not sealing well enough to cause "corkage issues" after just a few years then they really suck. Nowadays you need your corkscrew and a pair of pliars to get the "cork" off the corkscrew and all for no benefit except reduced cost to the vintner.

Somehow this changeover was related to dropping the lead seals on the bottles. I'd rather take my chances with the lead ... ;-(

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[Tunehead54]

Oops! Thought I was still reviewing the post - can you spot the typo? ;-)

[Tunehead54]

Could you add me to the list please? Is there, like, a sublist for connoisseur's of MD 40-40?

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;-)