Screwcap Watch!

Just spotted these wines in three recently read magazines.

(Note: I will report only those wines that are pictured in alternative closures, or that I know for a fact (having seen them myself) are in alternative closures.)

Wine Enthusiast, September 2006

Etoile Brut (by Chandon)...Crown Cap


Wine Enthusiast, Best Buys Issue, November 15, 2006:

Velti Gruner Veltliner Velt.1
Yangarra McLaren Vale Rose (Grenache Shiraz)
Fairvalley Pinotage
Erath Pinot Gris
Jaunegg Daniel S (Welschriesling, Weissburgunder, SB), Styria
Yalumba Viognier
Moletta Rosa, Veneto Orientale Sparkling (Crown Cap)


In Sante magazine,, October 2006:

Cloudy Bay SB
Wakefield Promised Land Riesling
Wakefield Estate Riesling, Clare Valley
Wakefield Jaraman Riesling, Clare/Eden Valleys
Wakefield Estate Shiraz, Clare Valley
Wakefield St. Andrews Cabernet Sauvignon
Neil Ellis Sincerely SB
Neil Ellis Sincerely Shiraz

[Jenise]

You're going to be the Lou Dobbs of internet wine bottling, you are.

Say, for all I like the romance of corks, it was sure nice unscrewing that Old Telegram last night, and I loved just screwing the lid back on when it came time to put the remainder away, too.

It's a public service I'm performing, Jenise! A selfless exercise on behalf of the entire wine community to help advance the day when every wine drinker can at least have the opportunity to enjoy untainted wine as it was intended to be.

Seriously though, it has gotten to the point where I breathe a sigh of relief when I see---and purchase---a bottle of wine under screwcap and crown cap (and if they pan out, the VinoLok and DIAM, and who knows what else), because I know my chances are a whole lot better that I'll be enjoying a wine close to the way it was intended to be enjoyed, and not something marred by adhering senselessly to old technology for "romantic" reasons.

And when I purchase cork-finished bottles, there's always that nagging doubt, that uncertainty...

Nah, I'll take freshness and ease of use over outmoded antiques and romantic mold any day.

Amen.

Not much point in listing the Oz & NZ wineries here, Hoke. It'd just about be shorter these days to list the makers staying with traditional cork - and there actually are a significant number of them; mostly well-regarded makers who have little difficulty selling their output as is. They're a small proportion of the overall market, but a larger chunk of the better wines.
I should qualify all this by remarking that I'm talking about red wines only - nearly every decent white in the country is already under, or soon heading for, screwcap.
cheers,
Graeme

Ah, but Graeme, I think it's analogous to the old Lenny Bruce schtick where he kept saying 'obscene' words repeatedly, with the idea that if he said it often enough the word would lose its power to shock us.

If we say 'screwcap' enough, it ceases to be an oddity and becomes more and more acceptable in the mainstrem. And if we see enough screwcapped wines on the shelfs, or in magazines, or in lists (like this), and if enough people say enough things about good wines not tainted by cork, then maybe one or two more people will give alternative closures a try, or maybe one or two more producers will work up the mercantile courage to put their wines out in a better container with a better seal.

Besides: I'm just a holdover from the rebellious 60s, dude. It feels good to be passionate about something I believe in.

If we say 'screwcap' enough, it ceases to be an oddity and becomes more and more acceptable in the mainstrem. And if we see enough screwcapped wines on the shelfs, or in magazines, or in lists (like this), and if enough people say enough things about good wines not tainted by cork, then maybe one or two more people will give alternative closures a try, or maybe one or two more producers will work up the mercantile courage to put their wines out in a better container with a better seal.

Besides: I'm just a holdover from the rebellious 60s, dude. It feels good to be passionate about something I believe in.

What you say is fair enough; in this part of the world though, no-one remains who could have any doubt about losing sales because of the seal. No, if top makers here (Wendouree, Rockford, Yarra Yering, Bass Phillip, Jasper Hill, Yalumba, Wynns, Petaluma) are sticking with cork, it's because of remaining reservations about the proven ageability of reds under screwcap, or entrenched refusal to abandon 'tradition', or a belief that they find less than 1% (approx) of their own wines are affected by taint/ox issues. Yarra Yering, for instance, who I visited recently, pay over A$1 ea for corks, reckon they only get a miniscule number of problems, and believe there are still unsolved problems with screwcap.

I agree with the passion - any time I taste a wine under cork in the presence of the maker I ask why he's using trees for packaging...
cheers,
Graeme

I'm surprised Petaluma is sticking with cork. They are the owners of Argyle in Oregon and Argyle wines use screwcap.

Nothing strange, happens all the time. Chandon Oz and Domaine Chandon (Napa) use crown caps, Moët & Chandon Reims doesn't.

As a data point for a previous discussion about differences in marketing screwcaps in the US and abroad. Apparently the 05 Fritz Haag kabinetts are (mostly) in screwtop for the US and (mostly) in cork for Europe. Same wine, same AP, different marketing needs.