Fruit, Flowers, Rotten Eggs and All
Though there is still some debate up in the air over screwcaps, I was rather happy to walk into the winery last week and see a stack of them. We’re only using them on the very small (and first) production of Pinot Gris and the Gewurztraminer. The second imparts very good news because, in my experience, that one is corked most often. Since it’s meant to be drunk young, as-yet-undocumented, long-term effects shouldn’t matter as much.
As for the rotten egg smell, from what I gather, it oftens disappears after a few minutes.
Besides,with most of New Zealand, many in Australia, and more and more big names in the States switching over from cork, there may not be much room for argument. Screwcaps are here to stay.
screwcap, Stelvin closure, rotten eggs
January 27th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Oh I don’t know. I think the industry could capitalize on recent Earth-friendly trends in the grocery and farming business. For example, just by telling people cork is a naturally grown crop, like lettuce or anything else, it brings all sorts of juicy politics into play. A smart marking executive somewhere in Santa Barbara is probably thinking right now:
“Hey, we could start telling customers our corks are Fair Trade, Organic, Free Range and Cruelty Free. That should get the Trader Joes crowd unhooked from that 2-buck-swill. We could print on labels that these cork trees were grown by single-mothers in Chile, and purchased under the wine industries ‘Living Wage’ guidelines. By purchasing this cork, you are helping to feed 9 children.”
Heck, if Starbucks can cash in on this trend for “feel good” products, why not the wine industry?
January 28th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
The Chronicle did an article not long ago about the new generation at Sebastiani & Sons using not only screw caps but also “zorks” (which they compared to milk jug caps). Considering one of your inspirations to get in the wine biz was witty labels - you’d probably get a kick out theirs. If you want to check out the archive its in the Oct. 13th issue in the Wine section.