A very good article by Dr. Buckner.

Can’t put cork in screw-cap fight

Extract: The wheels began to grind ever so slowly, and then whipped themselves into overdrive. What in the world is Baumard, a house founded in 1634 (not a typo), using screw caps for? Have they gone mad? These wines are not made for immediate consumption like New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. They can easily age for a decade.

This caused me to rethink the screw cap. If a noble house such as Baumard is using these closures for their prized, ageable wines, they must have confidence in them. They must have investigated the research data closer than I have.

Very well done, Randy, thank you.

Regards, Bob

Bob, you really should frequent a better corner of cyberspace. Slow day at the ranch?

[James Roscoe]

So how was the Baumard Randy? I could care less about the closure.

I take my fun where I find it, Randy. Follow my heroes with the help of Google Alerts and when they write something good, recognize one way or another.

A nice article -- but James has a good point.

So how was the Baumard Randy? I could care less about the closure.

I won't open the first one for probably 4-5 years. Infanticide and all of that stuff....

I've often wondered if Randy is a "Dr." in the "Dre", "Seuss" or "Doogie Howser" sense?

I've often wondered if Randy is a "Dr." in the "Dre", "Seuss" or "Doogie Howser" sense?

More along the Dr. Strangelove line:

General "Buck" Turgidson: I know how it is, baby. Tell you what you do: you just start your countdown, and old Bucky'll be back here before you can say "Blast off!"

This caused me to rethink the screw cap. If a noble house such as Baumard is using these closures for their prized, ageable wines, they must have confidence in them. They must have investigated the research data closer than I have.

Bob, I don't think that I have gained quite as many years as you, but one thing I have learned in spades is that you can't trust that just because some important somebody should have done the research, it was done correctly. Remember WMD?

"Remember WMD?"

True enough, Covert. In that case, there may have been some bias toward believing Iraq's bluff for other reasons.

It's hard to see a bias toward screwcaps in this case, but perhaps I lack imagination. My personal corked rates bumped 10.0% on a rolling annual basis last night -- makes me cling to any news that might drop that rate a bit.

Even finding a drug that makes me less sensitive to TCA.

"Remember WMD?"

True enough, Covert. In that case, there may have been some bias toward believing Iraq's bluff for other reasons.

Hmm, I think you mean some bias not to believe Iraq's non-bluff . . .

In a letter addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on September 19, 2002, Saddam Hussein wrote: "We hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons."

Every part of this statement is suspect.

I'm surprised the State Department keeps this stuff up on their site . . .

But back to the wine, I agree with you, Bob and hope that screwcaps can help put a stake in TCA's heart . . . though my rarity in encountering it probably indicates that I am not as sensitive to it as you are. I hope your TCA batting average starts to slide!

Ah, but Keith, you've got to admit it's getting better, better all the time. (thanks to The Beatles for lyrics)

Why, just the other night I was at a dinner when Steve Edmunds showed up with a just-off-the-bottling-line Bone Jolly and Pinot Gris.

Both in screwcaps!!!!!! Yowza!

And when I arrived on the scene after another of my wife's bookclub soirees (closely akin to the aftermath of a rock star in a hotel room), I couldn't help but notice that amongst the debris was two screwcapped bottles.....and a Lazy Creek sparkling Gewurz that had a crown cap on it!

Did a trade tasting not too long ago, and with 12 bottles on the table, only three of them had actual tree bark plugs (fortunately, none of those were tainted).

So, it's happening. It's happening.

PS: The Bone Jolly was great. But the Pinot Gris was absolutely fantastic. You won't find a more complex, interesting, well structured white anywhere else on this continent. Best PG in the country, easily.

[James Roscoe]

[quote="Hoke"]PS: The Bone Jolly was great. But the Pinot Gris was absolutely fantastic. You won't find a more complex, interesting, well structured white anywhere else on this continent. Best PG in the country, easily.[/quote

Shill! Huckster! How much do you get paid to write this stuff? Does Steve just feed you the lines and you just post them? How are we east coast people ever supposed to know what this stuff tastes like when you keep hogging all the allotments to yourself?

P.S. When are you coming back to DC? Bring some ESJ with you.

My personal corked rates bumped 10.0% on a rolling annual basis last night -- makes me cling to any news that might drop that rate a bit. (

That's horrible, Bob. Do you find TCA in any type of bottle more than another? I've mentioned before that I find it a lot (maybe as much as 10%) in California Chardonnay, which I drink a lot of; but very rarely in Bordeaux reds. Sometimes I wonder if the odds of a bad cork is proportional to how much a property is willing to pay for one. (I know TCA comes from other places, too; but mostly from corks.)

For some reason it doesn't bother me to get a bad chard, because I don't spend too much for them, I guess; I just open another one. But if I got a bad fourth growth, or something like that, I would be p---ed. I know that even an occasional Lafite falls prey, but I don't get many bad Bordeaux.

Covert

Covert,

I haven't seen a real pattern, Covert. I did buy a large collection of Bordeaux from a friend that had good storage for as long as we could determine it. It's run about 10% corked from that collection -- two pristine 1982 Pichon Comtesse Lalandes a couple of months ago, for example. We've both wondered if the collection picked up the corkiness somewhere along the line from storage, maybe even something in my own wine cellar.

I don't find it much in cheaper wines -- under $20 or so -- but then I favor screw tops at that price level.

I did discuss this problem with a sommelier at Daniel a month ago -- she said they ran a "hard 8%" rate -- and their list is similar to what's in my cellar. I know I'm pretty sensitive to TCA, so an additional 2% wouldn't be inconsistent with Daniel's results (where Daniel Johnnes is the Wine Director).

Beats me.

Hoke wrote: PS: The Bone Jolly was great. But the Pinot Gris was absolutely fantastic. You won't find a more complex, interesting, well structured white anywhere else on this continent. Best PG in the country, easily.

Hoke I have a six pack of the Bone Jolly laying around downstairs, and need to try one of them. Now, about that best PG in the country tag. I know Steve does some serious alchemy in the cellar, and even does a better than decent syrah or four. But, best in the country...must be awfully good if it beats Stone wolf!

So how was the Baumard Randy? I could care less about the closure.

I won't open the first one for probably 4-5 years. Infanticide and all of that stuff....

Randy, where's your winespeak? It's not infanticide , it's vinfanticide

Randy, where's your winespeak? It's not infanticide , it's vinfanticide

Hey, cut me some slack, lady -- I just graduated from Knuckle Dragging 101 you know....

Cute -- I'm stealing it.

Bob,

The Pinot Gris comes from the Witters Vineyard, same as the Bone Jolly, up in Eldorado County.

What can I say, the PG is wonderful stuff. I was floored by it...and it happened to be in pretty damned good company that night---Chassagne Montrachet, Gruner Veltliner, Vouvray, and some others.

It had a remarkably perfumed nose, substantial body, and startling complexity of flavors. I'd love to try it blind on Europhiles to see what origins they'd come up with. As with most of Steve's wines, it's new world sourced but old world styled.

PS: The Bone Jolly was great. But the Pinot Gris was absolutely fantastic. You won't find a more complex, interesting, well structured white anywhere else on this continent. Best PG in the country, easily.

Oooh nooo! Now I have to try to track down yet another ESJ wine. I now know how the Deadheads felt.


JuliaB

Hoke I have a six pack of the Bone Jolly laying around downstairs, and need to try one of them.

Bob, word to the wise..when you try the Bone Jolly..wear loose fitting clothes, have a surface upon which to pound, and a cigarette for after.
Just sayin'.

JuliaB