Screwcap Watch Update

Happy to report I'm seeing more and more wines coming out under screwcap.

Today I saw:

La Mura Grillo Sicilia
Meursault Matrot
Fattoria Laila Verdicchio di Castelli di Jesi
Dr. Loosen Wehl. Son. Kab
Dr. Loosen Bern. Lay Kab
Meulenhof Wehl. Son. Spat
Nikolaihof GV Hefeabzug (Biodynamic)
Heidi Schrock Muscat
La Vielle Ferme Cotes du Ventoux
Paradise Ridge Sauvignon Blanc
Sapphire Hill RRV Chardonnay
Ceago Mendo Sauvignon Blanc
Ceago Chardonnay
Sineann Pinot Gris
Benton Lane PG
Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier
Borra Fusion Red Blend
Hess Estate Chardonnay Monterey
Argyle Chardonnay
Davis Bynum Fume Blanc
Mauritson DCV Sauvignon Blanc
Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc
Patianna Sauvignon Blanc
Kunde Sauvignon Blanc Magnolia
Whitehall Lane Sauvignon Blanc
Emmolo Sauvignon Blanc

Not bad for a casual stroll down the wine aisles.

You can add: d'Arenberg "The Stump Jump." Great juice. As a matter of fact "The Wine News" just named it the value in a GSM. Agree.

Heidi Schrock Muscat

Hoke,

Where did you see the Heidi-Schrock? I purchased their late harvest Sylvaner when I was in Austria and it was excellent. We have not been able to find more of their wine here in the U.S. From the picture of the owners I found in a wine book it looked to be a Mom and Pop operation. Suffice it to say the the Heidi-Schrocks are a rather stout couple who don't appear to be wasting time sitting around fanning themselves. It looks they're out there on the vineyard, in the dirt, with the grapes.

I saw the Schrock in Sonoma, Sam.

It's not all that easy to find here, so I can imagine in Indiana it would be more difficult. Shame, as she makes very good wine.

[James Roscoe]

You 'da man!

I bottled my '06 Pinot Gris, Rose of Gamay, and red Gamay all under screwcap, and I am one happy guy! Not only do I not worry about TCA, but bottle-shock never really happened! Whoooo-eeeee!!!!!

I've got a sales brochure here from a Sydney retailer offering top trophy-winning wines from the 2007 Sydney International Wine Competition, an annual affair in which wines are judged with food (an event our host attended as a judge some years ago, IIRC).

As a food-based competition, wines are grouped into food-friendly groups (and not exclusively restricted to Australian wines), but it's interesting to see the closure statistics - from the brochure at least - on the wines offered, not least because they are generally current release wines - there are no museum classes.

The numbers below aren't reflective of overall numbers, just the pick of the top trophy winners selected by one retailer to highlight in their mailer.

Classes, with no. of winning wines under cork;
Sparkling: 3 from 3
Aromatic whites: 0 from 6
Sauvignon Blancs: 0 from 7
Light & Med body whites: 1 from 7
Full body whites: 0 from 4
Rose: 0 from 4
Pinot: 1 from 4
Light body reds: 2 from 6
Medium body reds: 2 from 6
Full bodied reds: 8 from 11

Game set & match, I think.
cheers,
Graeme

[Robin Garr]

(an event our host attended as a judge some years ago, IIRC).

Twice in fact! 2000 and, I think, 2003. They'd like to have me back again, and I'd like to come, but it's hard to work out because of the time and travel commitment.

[David M. Bueker]

Heidi Schrock Muscat

Hoke,

Where did you see the Heidi-Schrock? I purchased their late harvest Sylvaner when I was in Austria and it was excellent. We have not been able to find more of their wine here in the U.S.

Sam,

Schrock is a Terry Theise selection, distributed by Michael Skurnik wines. The distribute nationally, so there should be ways for you to find the wines.

Steve wrote:
I bottled my '06 Pinot Gris, Rose of Gamay, and red Gamay all under screw cap, and I am one happy guy! Not only do I not worry about TCA, but bottle-shock never really happened! Whoooo-eeeee!!!!!

This is what one would expect, no Steve? The styles and types of wines described are very likely produced with modern-day (somewhat reductive) winemaking techniques, and bottled with modern bottling machines and screw caps (therefore reducing the amount of air allowed into the bottle). So therefore it is very unlikely that these wines would experience bottle shock or sickness. One would expect that these wines are ready for market “right out of the gate” (when they come off the bottling line). .

Salute

Schrock is a Terry Theise selection, distributed by Michael Skurnik wines. The distribute nationally, so there should be ways for you to find the wines.

David,

Thanks for the info. I will try to contact Skurnik Wines and see what they can do. I've tried getting it ordered through local shops with no luck. I find very limited hits on the internet; only four listings on Wineaccess (I'm not a member) and Heide-Schrock doesn't appear to have a website.

When will the 06's be released Steve?

(an event our host attended as a judge some years ago, IIRC).

Twice in fact! 2000 and, I think, 2003. They'd like to have me back again, and I'd like to come, but it's hard to work out because of the time and travel commitment.

Wouldn't be certain, but I strongly suspect the Rose classes have improved since you had to suffer them previously...
Graeme

[David M. Bueker]

Schrock is a Terry Theise selection, distributed by Michael Skurnik wines. The distribute nationally, so there should be ways for you to find the wines.

David,

Thanks for the info. I will try to contact Skurnik Wines and see what they can do. I've tried getting it ordered through local shops with no luck. I find very limited hits on the internet; only four listings on Wineaccess (I'm not a member) and Heide-Schrock doesn't appear to have a website.

Searching on Schrock (don't put in Heidi) on Winesearcher (the free version) gives hits all over the country. You would have ot order, but it's out there.

Schrock is a Terry Theise selection, distributed by Michael Skurnik wines. The distribute nationally, so there should be ways for you to find the wines.

David,

Thanks for the info. I will try to contact Skurnik Wines and see what they can do. I've tried getting it ordered through local shops with no luck. I find very limited hits on the internet; only four listings on Wineaccess (I'm not a member) and Heide-Schrock doesn't appear to have a website.

Searching on Schrock (don't put in Heidi) on Winesearcher (the free version) gives hits all over the country. You would have ot order, but it's out there.

I have been able to track down some Schrock wines up here!! The agent is in Calgary so will call as Muscat is on allocation.

Thanks guys. I did get 41 hits by typing "Schrock" only into Wineaccess. It looks like I can order it. Unfortunately, getting it shipped to the Hoosier state is a mixed bag thanks to our Luddite party majority legislature. I will see what I can do.

... and Heide-Schrock doesn't appear to have a website.

First, it's Heid_i_ (her first name), second, it's Schröck (without a hyphen), and of course she has a website, even with an English version:

http://www.heidi-schroeck.com/

Thanks Michael. I'm looking at the bottle as we speak and the name is definitely hyphenated. The correct spelling is "Heidi", with an "i". I will check out the web site.

Sam,
Check your PM.
BP

[David M. Bueker]

FYI Michael - when doing searches the umlaut doesn't alter the search criteria. Plus they are a pain to type of USA keyboards, so they frequnetly get omitted, even by me.

[Robin Garr]

FYI Michael - when doing searches the umlaut doesn't alter the search criteria.

Not true of Google. A search on "Heidi Schrock" brings up 43,400 hits. "Heidi Schröck" gets 76,100 hits, including the winery Website, http://www.heidi-schroeck.com/

"Heidi Schroeck" yields only 600 results, even though the winery URL uses that form.

[David M. Bueker]

FYI Michael - when doing searches the umlaut doesn't alter the search criteria.

Not true of Google. A search on "Heidi Schrock" brings up 43,400 hits. "Heidi Schröck" gets 76,100 hits, including the winery Website, http://www.heidi-schroeck.com/

"Heidi Schroeck" yields only 600 results, even though the winery URL uses that form.

Doesn't affect winesearcher - that's what I meant. (granted I use the free version)

Google is largely irrelevant to Sam's needs. He's looking to buy wines, not research an article.

[Robin Garr]

Doesn't affect winesearcher - that's what I meant. (granted I use the free version)

Google is largely irrelevant to Sam's needs. He's looking to buy wines, not research an article.

Ah, okay, good point. It's the same on Wine-seasrcher free and pro, by the way ... I happen to know that they hand-code in a lot of common misspellings (and umlaut/no-umlaut alternatives) to make for more effective "fuzzy" searching.

FYI Michael - when doing searches the umlaut doesn't alter the search criteria. Plus they are a pain to type of USA keyboards, so they frequnetly get omitted, even by me.

Umlauts made easy here: AllChars for Windows

Download this little program and you'll be putting umlauts in places you never thought you would. Three keystrokes: Ctrl + o + " = ö. Ctrl + s + s = ß. Ctrl + n + ~ = ñ. Etc. and so on.

It's a free program. There are no tracking cookies or pop-ups.