Wine: A Look at Corks and Screw Caps

News Type: Other — Seeded on Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:24 AM EDT

Article Source: Serious Eats

home-garden, food, alcohol, cooking, wine, screw-cap

"Oh no, I don't want that." She pushes back the bottle, wincing, and attempts to pull back the credit card receipt she'd just signed. I could see it in her eyes. She has realized the horrible fault on the glistening new bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc she just purchased: It has a screw cap. Horror flashes in her eyes as she begs me to reconsider the transaction, "Can I just exchange it for something else, please?"

If the customer is always right, then this would be very simple. Substitute one thing for another, let her have her lovely day. Lots of people have fears about screw caps, box wine, and other ways of packaging wine, and most of these fears are based not on hearsay and indoctrination but on experience. These methods are, for the most part, a cheaper way to deliver wine, and, for many years, that meant if you had a really cheap wine (i.e., bad wine) then you would just flop a screw top on or saddle it in a box and sell it for less.

But that's not the case any more.

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Michael Sautter's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: Foodies!, Newsvines drunks, Wine club
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9.5

{"commentId":598547,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

Michael Sautter

I don't mind a screw cap, I'm more interested in the wine in the bottle.

{"commentId":598547,"threadId":"86727","contentId":"625215","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

1 vote

#1 - Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:55 AM EDT

{"commentId":601473,"authorDomain":"jizzz"}

jizzz

I still cannot help thinking "it's probably not so good", when I see a screw cap.

{"commentId":601473,"threadId":"86727","contentId":"625215","authorDomain":"jizzz"}

2 votes

#1.1 - Thu Mar 22, 2007 1:16 PM EDT

{"commentId":602058,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

Michael Sautter

I still cannot help thinking "I hope the cork isn't bad and the wine gone bad", when I see a corked wine bottle.

{"commentId":602058,"threadId":"86727","contentId":"625215","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

2 votes

#1.2 - Thu Mar 22, 2007 4:17 PM EDT

{"commentId":603200,"authorDomain":"jizzz"}

jizzz

Good point, but still...

{"commentId":603200,"threadId":"86727","contentId":"625215","authorDomain":"jizzz"}

2 votes

#1.3 - Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:15 AM EDT

{"commentId":603239,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

Michael Sautter

How do you feel about plastic corks?

Do they provide the level of wine snobbery that you require?
Or are you afraid someone might think that MD 20/20 is now available with a plastic cork?

{"commentId":603239,"threadId":"86727","contentId":"625215","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

2 votes

#1.4 - Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:41 AM EDT

{"commentId":603333,"authorDomain":"jizzz"}

jizzz

Plastic corks sound better to me. It's not snobbism, as you might think. With screw caps, I miss the opening ritual. (old fashioned, you know...)

{"commentId":603333,"threadId":"86727","contentId":"625215","authorDomain":"jizzz"}

1 vote

#1.5 - Fri Mar 23, 2007 10:31 AM EDT

{"commentId":602104,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

Michael Sautter

What's Next, Wine in Sippy Cups?
About wine in boxes.

{"commentId":602104,"threadId":"86727","contentId":"625215","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

2 votes

#2 - Thu Mar 22, 2007 4:35 PM EDT

{"commentId":603202,"authorDomain":"jizzz"}

jizzz

And what's next, wine in cans?

{"commentId":603202,"threadId":"86727","contentId":"625215","authorDomain":"jizzz"}

2 votes

#2.1 - Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:16 AM EDT

{"commentId":603247,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

Michael Sautter

You mean something like this:

A can, and a plan, for this sparkling wine

{"commentId":603247,"threadId":"86727","contentId":"625215","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

1 vote

#2.2 - Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:45 AM EDT

{"commentId":607232,"authorDomain":"stevetherobot"}

stevetherobot

I just finished reading Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell, which is about our "adaptive unconscious"--a 24/7 mental valet--that provides us with instant and sophisticated information to warn of danger, read a stranger, or react to a new idea. The problem with this ability is that our pre-conditioning can preempt our 'adaptive unconcious'. In the case of screwcaps vs corks, this means that our belief that a cork is a sign of better wine will cause us to 'decide' that the wine in the corked bottle is better. If you tasted a very good wine with a screwcap and a mediocre wine with a cork, you will prefer the latter. If you then tasted the very same wines, but were led to believe that the good wine is from the corked bottle and the mediocre wine from a screwcapped bottle, you would prefer the better wine. Even if the you knew going in, that the better wine was in a bottle with a screwcap, you would still prefer the mediocre wine from the corked bottle.

{"commentId":607232,"threadId":"86727","contentId":"625215","authorDomain":"stevetherobot"}

2 votes

#3 - Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:47 AM EDT

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"86727","isPrivate":false}

MICHAEL SAUTTER

Backyard

Wine: A Look at Corks and Screw Caps

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A can, and a plan, for this sparkling wine

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