Screwtop Etiquette

[GrimWheel]

All you wine buffs can you help ?

 

I know a little bit, and know what I like, but am not a "buff".

 

Wine waiter brings you your screwtop bottle, and pours you a quarter glass expecting you to give him the OK to proceed.

 

Do you play the little game and taste/sniff ?

 

Or do you ask him/her to just pour, knowing it can't be "corked" ?

 

It occurs to me that actually sommeliers should not do this at all with screwtops and should just pour. So why don't they ?

 

I can find so little to complain about on QM2 that I'm reduced to this...

 

Your expert view awaited !

[MadScientist_01]

Wine with a screwtop? :eek: I really don't mean that to sound pompous, but I only drink red wine and have never had a proper bottle without a cork (had those little bottles in pubs with a screwtop but they don't count).

 

Are they any good?

[GrimWheel]

Absolutely !

 

Some of the very best whites (often from NZ or Australia) I've ever tasted have screwtops. I'm told they couldn't get quality cork.

[MadScientist_01]

Absolutely !

 

Some of the very best whites (often from NZ or Australia) I've ever tasted have screwtops. I'm told they couldn't get quality cork.

 

Well, you live and learn - I'll have to give them a try! Haven't had white wine for a long time, will have to dig one out.

[karl_nj]

All you wine buffs can you help ?

 

I know a little bit, and know what I like, but am not a "buff".

 

Wine waiter brings you your screwtop bottle, and pours you a quarter glass expecting you to give him the OK to proceed.

 

Do you play the little game and taste/sniff ?

 

Or do you ask him/her to just pour, knowing it can't be "corked" ?

 

It occurs to me that actually sommeliers should not do this at all with screwtops and should just pour. So why don't they ?

 

I can find so little to complain about on QM2 that I'm reduced to this...

 

Your expert view awaited !

 

Wikipedia claims it's possible for the winery itself to be tainted with TCA, which could cause a bottle of wine that has no cork to be "corked".

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_taint#Systemic_TCA

[digitl]

Wine with a screwtop? :eek: I really don't mean that to sound pompous, but I only drink red wine and have never had a proper bottle without a cork (had those little bottles in pubs with a screwtop but they don't count).

 

Are they any good?

I drink red and white and have had some terrific reds (and whites) come out of a screw-top bottle.

[Cruachan]

Well, you live and learn - I'll have to give them a try! Haven't had white wine for a long time, will have to dig one out.

 

In my wild youth most of the wine I drank came out of large, 3 litre, plastic bottles with a screw top. I think it cost about £4.00 a go and £3.99 of that was to cover the cost of the bottle. Pretty damn alcoholic though - just shake it up vigorously to mix in all the goodness and away you go. Later I went really upmarket and started hitting the boxes.

 

J

[Underwatr]

Later I went really upmarket and started hitting the boxes.

Makes me wonder Cunard's corkage fee would be the standard $15 for a box... :)

[Jim Avery]

Like Kermit the Frog, you ask permission to "sniff the bottle cap".:D

[Boytjie]

Is a cork really the only thing that can make a bottle of wine go bad? :confused:

 

Personally I think sniffing the cork is just snobbery but I heard squeezing it is much more appropriate. :rolleyes:

[Cruachan]

Is a cork really the only thing that can make a bottle of wine go bad? :confused:

 

Well, from my experience of good ole Zimbabwean plonk, the cork was actually the best bit of it!

 

J

[Boytjie]

Well, from my experience of good ole Zimbabwean plonk, the cork was actually the best bit of it!

 

J

 

 

LOL, you really believed it was cork? It was actually dried elephant dung. ;)

[Cruachan]

LOL, you really believed it was cork? It was actually dried elephant dung. ;)

 

ROFLMAO,

 

Actually it could well have been elephant poo - but after the first mouthful of the wine your mouth was so totally anaesthetised they could have pulled teeth and you wouldn't have noticed. It made Pol Acker look like vintage champagne. Made the party go with a swing though. :D

 

J

[Salacia]

What an interesting topic. I hadn't given much thought to revisiting screw top bottles (having enjoyed more than my share while in college) until reading these comments. Did some quick research and found this informative piece http://www.beekmanwine.com/prevtopap.htm

 

Thanks for peaking my interest in the cork vs screwtop debate :)

 

Regards,

Salacia

[Norfolk Brit]

And do you have to pay corkage on a screw top:)?

 

Mary

[Salacia]

And do you have to pay corkage on a screw top:)?

 

Mary

 

LOL

...and if so, does it show up on your statement as "screw fee"? :eek:

[The Real PM]

LOL

...and if so, does it show up on your statement as "screw fee"? :eek:

I really believe that a "screw top fee" would be far more appropriate, don't you?:)

[Cruachan]

And do you have to pay corkage on a screw top:)?

 

Mary

 

Definitely not in Scotland where a "screw-top", or to be more linguistically accurate, a "screw-tap", is an entirely different concept that doesn't involve wine. BigMac will no doubt be along shortly and can confirm that.

 

J

[Norfolk Brit]

Definitely not in Scotland where a "screw-top", or to be more linguistically accurate, a "screw-tap", is an entirely different concept that doesn't involve wine. BigMac will no doubt be along shortly and can confirm that.

 

J

 

Experience has shown me that it's better not to ask, but I never learn...

so, having googled it and got a load of very boring plumbing and heating suppliers websites, what is a screw-tap in Scotland?

[Cruachan]

Experience has shown me that it's better not to ask, but I never learn...

so, having googled it and got a load of very boring plumbing and heating suppliers websites, what is a screw-tap in Scotland?

 

It's a large bottle of beer with a screw top. "Top" pronounced "tap" in Sconny Botland therefore nowt to do with plumbing.

 

J

[Bispham Boo]

LOL

...and if so, does it show up on your statement as "screw fee"? :eek:

Oh Lordy, my next glass of French screw top(in plastic) just went all over the sofa.Again.

[sandbox]

Absolutely !

 

Some of the very best whites (often from NZ or Australia) I've ever tasted have screwtops. I'm told they couldn't get quality cork.

 

Totally agree.

And more and more countrys are following.

 

Save the Tree's;)

[BigMac1953]

Definitely not in Scotland where a "screw-top", or to be more linguistically accurate, a "screw-tap", is an entirely different concept that doesn't involve wine. BigMac will no doubt be along shortly and can confirm that.

 

J

A "Screw Tap", as I remember, was a bottle of "Pale Ale" (aka Pally Ally)that had a much lower alcohol content and was UK pint size.

 

It was mainly purchased by those on a strict budget, and quite popular amongst the masses on Wednesdays and Thursdays, as pay day was a Friday.

 

It was just one step above LD (Eldorado sweet sherry) that sold mostly in half bottles as to be easily concealed in inside pockets.

 

Having tasted neither, I am unable to review their qualities and at that, will hand you back to Cruachan for further comment.

[rbdb]

Here in Oz winemakers have been playing around with screw caps (or Stelvin seals) for a while due to greater volumes of poor quality cork hitting our shores. It's been estimated that up to 2 bottles per dozen suffer from 'cork taint' or TCA, or just oxidation due to the cork being a poor closure. My take on TCA is like smelling and tasting a decaying forest floor, and it's not pleasant. So 30 years ago in Australia they created the screw cap but it wasn't popular with drinkers. Now, more and more high end wines are being put in screw caps, although it'll be some time before a Penfolds Grange is in one. There is argument that it takes longer for a red in a screw cap to mature, due to a lack of oxygen transfer through the cork. They are not infallable though, as a good vertical impact on the seal can break it. On the plus side the screw cap bottle is very easy to open and reseal. I understand Bordeaux winemakers have also been playing with this type of seal for some 20 years but I've never seen any of that regions wines with a screw cap

[theyurfs]

Randomly stumbled upon this thread, and after years in the wine business, here is my advice. No matter the type of closure, you are best off sniffing the glass after a swirl. The swirl will oxgenate the wine and give you a good indication of the quality of the wine. Cork doesn't have enough wine on it to give you a good indication. You should examine the cork though to see if there is anything moldy or if it is crumbling. Clearly, this is not an issue with the twist off caps. Also, check the bottle and ensure the label is what you ordered. On a recent cruise, we were brought the wrong bottle. And my husband nodded just as the wine steward was about to open it. But at the last moment, I recognized it was a bottle about $100 more than we had ordered.