Twist cap wines...

[helenjp]

Whatever the cork vs screwtop climate is like at the top of the heap, down here where I shop, I get more dud corks than I really care to accept

Not "maybe" duds, either, I mean corks with holes that go the whole length of the cork, etc.

Bring on those screwtops.

[carswell]

Château Margaux is putting part of its 2002 Pavillon Rouge, its second wine, under screwcaps. And Villa Maria is abandonning cork altogether as of the 2004 vintage ("Villa Maria has had to inform distributors in some markets—who in the past had ordered cork closures—that it is screwcaps or nothing. France was one of those markets."). See Margaux's Pavillon goes under screwcap.

[tommy]

i'm pleased to see that the 2003 release of Dr. Loosen has twisties. love it. but what do i know.

[Fat Guy]

there's a stat somewhere, i'm sure, noting what percentage of bottle are consumed within, say, 1 year of release.

The Wine Institute is quoted in numerous publications saying that the overwhelming majority of wine is meant to be consumed soon after bottling, and that 70 percent of wine is consumed within three days of purchase. Three days.

I also think it's probably time to stop calling screw tops "new." We're now looking at 3-4 decades of data, not to mention what can be simulated in labs, and in the most recent decade the pace of research has been furious. The percentage of wines that are going to be aged more than a decade? Can it be even 1/10 of 1%? I'm sure those figures are available. Whatever the number, it's a niche. If those people want to use corks, fine. But let's get over it and put modern closures on everything else.

And my personal experience with TCA is that at least 1/20 bottles of wine I've had have been noticeably affected. That's 5 percent, people. And my observations square with most industry research (or at least research by industries other than the cork industry).

A restaurant screw top story:

Argyle Winery (Oregon) uses the Stelvin screw cap. Recently at Landmarc restaurant (New York) I noticed Argyle pinot noir on the list and ordered a bottle. To my delight, it arrived with a screw cap.

The opening ceremony was entirely enjoyable -- presentation of bottle, removal of foil, etc., much as described by Katie above -- and then our server (a woman of slight build) twisted the cap and . . . nothing happened. She couldn't get it open!

She had to seek the help of another server (not of slight build) to get the cap off. This provided much more amusement than a cork opening. At the same time, I remembered several too-long conversations with Argyle's winemaker, Rollin Soles, wherein he had evangelized about the superiority of screw caps. And then I noticed an 800 number for Argyle printed right on the bottle. And I had my cell phone with me.

I called Rollin. I'd like to say he answered, but I was told he had just left to deal with "a vineyard emergency" (probably he went for a snack at the local Mexican place, which is quite good). So I left him a voicemail complaining bitterly about my restaurant experience: "Mr. Soles, my meal was COMPLETELY RUINED by the poor performance of your shoddy screw cap . . ." etc., you get the idea.

Anyway, the next day the voicemails started coming in on my end. "You gotta remember, Shawzy, it's righty tighty, lefty loosey." "Hey listen, I just wanted to mention you've gotta turn the bottle one way and the cap the other way, you understand?"

So, really, the amount of ceremony I got out of that one screw cap was about 10 times what I've ever gotten out of a cork.

Myths & Facts about screw caps, from Argyle Winery

[KatieLoeb]

The opening ceremony was entirely enjoyable -- presentation of bottle, removal of foil, etc., much as described by Katie above -- and then our server (a woman of slight build) twisted the cap and . . . nothing happened. She couldn't get it open!

My guess is that this is going to happen from time to time because the "crimper" that attaches the foil and cap to the bottle neck is sometimes going to press the whole thing on too tight. I think this is the point of loosening the entire foil first, so you can then get the bottom part to turn and make the rest of the trick happen before you try to deftly and discreetly flip off the cap with your thumb.

I like the Argyle myths page. It makes a lot of valid points. Actually about 95% of the wine in the world is meant to be drunk within 3 years of its release. The fact that most of it only lasts three days in the hands of the "average" consumer doesn't surprise me in the least.

[maxanon]

I guess the issue is that the possibility of storing (in the traditional position) a particular bottle is taken away from the buyer. Still, I don't really enjoy those corks, sometimes the fifth bottle become a little difficult to open.

I'm surprised at the 3 day figure. I would liken my experience as closer to 3 hours (after first pour).