What's your take on twist off wine bottles.
I won't buy them. Not because the wine may be inferior as that is no longer the case.
I just think a bottle of wine should be opened the same way it has been for thousands of years (in one way or another) with some type of corking device.
I figure if enough people don't buy screw caps then they will stop producing them.

Just my silly little grass roots project.

Well, my initial reaction was the same as yours. I actually fealt the same way about the newer plastic corks - shows you the traditionalist I am. Unfortunately, I think your grass roots project is going to be stomped on by reality. From what I've heard and seen, the screw cap is being adopted by more and more wine makers including many of the better names.

I love them...it's revenge on the wine snobs.

Anyway, they work better and are the future they say. BTW, the best way to open them is to grasp the entire top with your hand and twist everything to the left.

i personally prefer corks. call me traditional.

I absolutely HATE the twist top, and for me a industry wide switch to twist tops on all wine bottles would be the equivalent of the cigar industry switching to glued on mouthpieces like tiparillos on all cigars; totally low class. Give me cork any day, even if it has to be the foam composite stuff. The ritual of corking and pouring wine is an important part of the experience, just like the ritual of cutting and lighting a cigar adds to the enjoyment. The worst new trend in the wine industry is the use of those hard plastic stoppers on champagne. Those things have no grip on the glass and shoot out unexpectedly after you remove the wire and foil. Effing dangerous I tell you!

I prefer the cork, but it won't stop me from buying any with the screw top......

Bottles with cork must be stored laying down so that the cork stays moist,otherwise the cork dries out and air gets into the winebottle and the wine oxydises turning the wine into vinegar.With the screwcap you don't have that problem,so you can store the bottle upright.

So I guess you wouldn't care for wine that comes in mylar bags in paper cartons with plastic caps.

Haha, gotta love the wine filled bladders.

The spoilage refered to as corked wine is said to affect 5% of bottles.

I have lots of 2005 Mollydooker "The Boxer". It's a screw cap wine that's delicious & has been aging very nicely.

Nostalgia apart, screw caps only have advantages compared to corks, especially when it comes to aging.

There's nothing worse than keeping a bottle of wine for a few years, and then opening to find that it turned bad... Or buying a good bottle of wine at the store, and opening it to find that it's "corked" - which is much more frequent than 5%, but that many people won't notice, thinking that it's the wine's taste.

Anyway, with screw caps, no oxydation, no "corking", no dry corks, no vinegar... And, once removed, doesn't really change the look of your bottle on the table.

I didnt like them at first but i see the advantages now.

quote:

Originally posted by kiwijoe:
I didnt like them at first but i see the advantages now.

You don't like to screw??? LOL

only for scientific purposes

I am a tradionalist in many ways, but I have to admit that screw caps make a lot more sense than corks. I say - screw the bottle and save a cork tree!

I still prefer a cork, but the screw top is superior in every which way except in the cultural tradition that plays a great part in enjoying wine.

Tell you what though, that screw top came in handy during a hiking trip as we forgot the wine opener, but realized that we didn't need one!

I had a bunch of guys over the other day. We usually get pretty twisted and end up raiding the wine closet pretty good and going through some good wine when we cant appreciate it. I decided to get 5 or six bottles to " drink" after enjoying some good red california wine. I was at an outlet type store and one of the bottles was a 2007 Merlot called Twin Fin. It is about a $10.00 dollar bottle of wine at Vons. It had a screw top and was on special for $1.99 per bottle. Not expecting much I grabbed a couple of bottles. Everybody raved about it so i told them that it was cheaper than 2 buck chuck. I went back to buy more ant bought all they had (7 bottles), my friends went as well and we literaly cleaned them out. We have been known to burn through 75-100 dollar bottles of wine and this screw top gem was better thatn a lot of the high dollar stuff. Go figure....

Wow, Twin Fin.
Funny you mentioned that brand. That was the last bottle of wine I bought with a screw cap before I began my stupid boycott.
Good stuff indeed!
$1.99 abottle is a great bargain.

That is funny. I bought some 2004 Merlot at the same place from Sonoma for $3.99 and some Aussie blend for $3.99 as well. It was all good. I wont drink or smoke anything no matter how cheap if I dont like it. That being said All of the cheap stuff was very good. Btw the Twin Fin was the only bottle with the screw top.I guess screw is OK with me!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by mellison:
Wow, Twin Fin.
Funny you mentioned that brand. That was the last bottle of wine I bought with a screw cap before I began my stupid boycott.
Good stuff indeed!
$1.99 abottle is a great bargain.