Short-form screw cap?

[Robin Garr]

screwcaps.jpg

So I brought home a cheap but reliable Italian red (Vitiano Umbria Rosso), and was mildly surprised to find that what appeared to be a standard Stelvin screwcap was something less. What appeared to be the screwcap sleeve turned out to be a thin plastic capsule, which, when peeled off, revealed a short screwcap that looked like the screw-off end of a Stelvin, only shorter. It worked fine to keep the wine inside the bottle, but I'd be skeptical of its long-term use. Have any of you run into anything like this? Is it a coming thing for low-end wine?

[Robin Garr]

It doesn't appear to be Stelvin. They make two forms, sturdy and sturdier, both with the full sleeve-and-cap treatment.
https://www.amcor.com/products_services ... screw_caps

I think I've seen it on cheapie Lambrusco.

I haven't seen that one, but the seal on a screw-cap closure is made where the flat insert (top) part of the cap meets the glass bottle so there shouldn't be a difference. The thread looks the same.

Cheers,
Bill

[Robin Garr]

I haven't seen that one, but the seal on a screw-cap closure is made where the flat insert (top) part of the cap meets the glass bottle so there shouldn't be a difference. The thread looks the same.

Bill, that's correct as far as it goes, but I'd be dubious about the relative protection capability against bangs and nicks with the short cap. I can't really see it as anything but a cost-cutting measure.

I agree with Bill. The “skirt” part of the screw cap has nothing to do with the function of the cap itself, only to resemble the “traditional foils and capsules”. When you break the seal of a screw cap the liner and screw cap part separates because there are perforations where the cap attaches to the skirt part. So in reality the screw cap only has to be that long.

Salute

[Robin Garr]

I agree with Bill. The “skirt” part of the screw cap has nothing to do with the function of the cap itself, only to resemble the “traditional foils and capsules”. When you break the seal of a screw cap the liner and screw cap part separates because there are perforations where the cap attaches to the skirt part. So in reality the screw cap only has to be that long.

I hear you both, Victor, but I think you're overlooking a couple of points. The short cap on the Vitiano is not a standard Stelvin top. It's much shorter. I agree that the seal is not directly affected. But there have been numerous reports of Stelvins compromised by banging the cap against a hard surface. It seems to me that without the added stability of the sleeve AND with the shorter screw, this short cap has greater potential for issues, even if it might work as well in a perfect environment.

[Robin Garr]

I agree with Bill. The “skirt” part of the screw cap has nothing to do with the function of the cap itself, only to resemble the “traditional foils and capsules”. When you break the seal of a screw cap the liner and screw cap part separates because there are perforations where the cap attaches to the skirt part. So in reality the screw cap only has to be that long.

I hear you both, Victor, but I think you're overlooking a couple of points. The short cap on the Vitiano is not a standard Stelvin top. It's much shorter. I agree that the seal is not directly affected. But there have been numerous reports of Stelvins compromised by banging the cap against a hard surface. It seems to me that without the added stability of the sleeve AND with the shorter screw, this short cap has greater potential for issues, even if it might work as well in a perfect environment.

Perhaps the purpose of this design is to promote glass recycling. Way back in high school when I worked as a volunteer in our town's recycling center, we had to spend a lot of time removing the metal rings left behind on soda bottles when the screw cap was removed. Nowadays the screw cap is designed so that it doesn't leave any metal behind on the bottle. The Stelvin closure leaves behind a metal band on the bottle that is tough to remove. Fortunately the town I live in has single-stream recycling that doesn't require removal of metal from glass bottles, but those living elsewhere might be required to remove the metal before recycling the bottle, and instead opt to simply throw the bottle out.

-Paul W.

I can’t see the “skirt” or “extended sleeve part” preventing the top or threaded part from getting “damaged”. The “groove” just below the perforations is really not necessary for “holding down” the cap (the “threaded” part does the bulk of that work). Its there to ease the separation of the cap from the “skirt” or sleeve) prevents the sleeve from spinning when turning the cap to remove it. If the gauge and alloy of the aluminum is the same I see no difference (assuming the liners function like they are designed too).

Salute

[David M. Bueker]

I am with Victor and Bill. The longer sleeve has no sealing capacity, and a hit to a Stelvin that compromises the seal is not mitigated by extra metal. The hit breaks the seal at the very top, as that is the only place there is a seal.

[Robin Garr]

Okay, so nobody but me sees that dinky short cap as a cheap alternative? You pay less, you get less, or else Stelvin has successfully perpetrated an amazing con.

[David M. Bueker]

It probably is cheaper, but it also uses less resources. If the seal is the same I don't see an issue. The question is what is under the cap.

Do you object to lighter weight bottles because they are cheaper?

[Robin Garr]

It probably is cheaper, but it also uses less resources. If the seal is the same I don't see an issue. The question is what is under the cap.

Do you object to lighter weight bottles because they are cheaper?

Nah. I'm just trying to process this since it was the first and only I've seen, and it came on a modest Italian wine that's pretty good, but also made in enough quantity to be widely sold on end caps in the US. Pardon me if I'm cynical, but when I see something that looks like corner-cutting, I wonder what has been lost. I wonder if Stelvin will start making a short, sleeveless cap now, and how they will market it against their regular closures.

Stelvin will start making a short, sleeveless cap now, and how they will market it against their regular closures

Amcor does, they call it “Aluflash” and they are designed for screw cap bottles not designed for long skirts.

https://www.amcor.com/CMSPages/GetFile. ... c28c841154

Salute

[Robin Garr]

Stelvin will start making a short, sleeveless cap now, and how they will market it against their regular closures

Amcor does, they call it “Aluflash” and they are designed for screw cap bottles not designed for long skirts.

https://www.amcor.com/CMSPages/GetFile. ... c28c841154

Thanks, Victor. Isn't Stelvin a branch of Amcor?

[Robin Garr]

Also, from the Amcor page, "Alufl ash is an easy to cap, short-skirt aluminium screw cap
for spirits." Do you think they are using "spirits" generically?

What surprises me they are introducing screw caps that look more and more like traditional enclosed wine bottles. In 2005 they introduced “Stelvin Lux” (no visible rolled threads). These probably cost double the standard ROPP (Roll on Pilfer Proof). Now you need a capping machine that first screws the cap to the appropriate torque for the liner to function as designed and a roller to fit the outer shell. When all you really need is the plastic threaded cap and the liner.


https://www.burgundy-report.com/wp/wp-c ... lux-GB.pdf

Salute

Also, from the Amcor page, "Alufl ash is an easy to cap, short-skirt aluminum screw cap
for spirits." Do you think they are using "spirits" generically?

If you carefully look at your picture with the short screw cap there is a slight chamfer on the very top (or indentation just above a slightly knurled part). This in the glass industry is known as a “side seal”. Bottles designated to hold wine are designed with both a “side seal” and “top seal”. Bottles designated to hold spirits and liquors are generally only designed with “top seal”. (The roll on pilfers proof screw caps on spirit and liquor bottles could be more of less square at he very top).

Looking at the diagram supplied by Alcan for the Stelvin-Lux the bottle more or less looks like a” spirit “ neck finished bottles (no side seal, the insert makes the top and side seal). Looking further at the diagram, the insert and the mechanism that locks onto the threads molded into the glass might not have to be “screwed on” but only pressed on and rolled (only locking the plastic insert threaded mechanism to the threads molded in the glass without visible forming threads that could be seen on the outside of the enclosure).

Salute