My first synthetic cork
 

I just corked a bottle of Monte Antico red wine from Tuscan Italy. It cost about $30 in the store. ($60 in the restraunt where we had it first)

This is my first bottle with a "fake" cork. I read that they were switching to it but that they were also switching back after a backlash of people wanting real cork.

Is this common? Synthetic Corks that is?

getting common

can't get my mind around em
a cork has to be from cork

just like boobs have to be from fatty tissue and not sillicone
engines have to make a vrooooar sound , not bzzzzzz
anything else is just craaaaazy talk

I don't like them... mostly because they don't work well with the fancy smancy cork screw I paid $40 for!

Wineries like em. Less spoilage=bigger profit.

Just wait ........... screw caps are going to replace corks very soon on most bottles except the absurdly expensive bottles.

Better yet is screw top! I paid $75 for a bottle of Plumpjack cabernet with a screw top. Excellent wine by the way.

Those screw tops REALLY mess with my corkscrew!

Seriously, can you imagine having a romantic dinner with you wife/girlfriend... and a screw top bottle of fine wine?

Real cork works just fine if you store the bottle correctly.

Been seeing more of the fake ones(Plastic, or whatever), also the ones that are real on both ends, with particle cork in the middle.

I prefer cork valve cover gaskets

When I first glanced at the topics I thought this one said "My first synthetic cock".

That would have been a very different discussion...

From a vitner's perspective, it's not just a "proper storage" issue. Some percentage of corks are tainted with TCA and we go through stretches of corked wines that is sobering. In my own home, I poured hundreds of dollars of wine down the drain because of TCA taint. It sucks.

In general, supplies from Portugal are constrained and good quality corks are becoming absurdly expensive. But synthetic corks are not forecast to become common on premium bottles. There are also reports of oxidation problems with screw caps, so they are not a panacea either. Screwcaps work well with whites because they are rarely stored for very long. The jury is still out on high-end reds - Plumpjack has the kind of customer following that will put up with it. But in a restaurant or nice dinner setting, part of the joy of opening a bottle is removing the cork, smelling for taint, then pouring. Those are lost with both kinds of synthetic closures.

Composite corks - the particleboard of the cork world is an interesting choice for lower cost wines. The ones that Tobra mentioned with the solid cork caps are becoming more widely used - mostly from an expense and adversion to synthetic closure alternative.

But whatever the closure, drink more wine!

Monte Antico is my aunt and uncle's wine! So glad you like it, we drink a lot of it around here :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1159402747.jpg


http://www.empson.com/

I have a '97 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon (Astrale e Terra) in the cooler waiting for a special occasion. ( I wanted a '99 but they are getting really hard to find) I think it has a real cork. That synthetic one really threw me. I am used to giving it a sniff prior to the pour.

The wine, once it warmed up turned out delightful. Any fears I had after corking it were quickly dismissed.

Don - Thanks for chiming in. I am no expert at all. Your input was very informative.

I went to a vinyard over the weekend with my wife. (Bitlmore Estate winery) I was actually impressed when they stressed that wine tasting should NEVER be intimidating. Feel free to ask questions. It was very relaxed and not snooty at all and we found some really good wines and bought them.

It truly is a small world.

We actually found this wine in "Italy" at Epcot Center 2 years ago. We were eating in the restruant there and ordered that wine off the list. We were so impressed we asked if it was for sale and the waiter pointed us to the wine store in Epcot where we bought a bottle.

BTW- Epcots "Italy" cannot hold a candle to my wifes Grandmother's cooking. She can throw something together in a few minutes better than their dishes.

Its hard to go to Italian restraunts when you have an Italian family. :D

Better get used to. The Stelvin closure (screw cap) is preferred by winemakers, even on high end wines. Although, winemakers are a little divided on the unknown effects of Stelvins (or non effects) in determining the long term character of wines made to cellar.

But- most wine is consumed immediately on purchase, and little is made to lie down. Cork taint is generally regarded to affect one bottle in a dozen. Many people cant detect mild, or even severe cork taint. There are three grades of cork, and only the best wines, made to be cellared, get the good grade.

As someone who does cellar wine, Im happy to see the Stelvin closure being used. One of my favorites has just bottled there new premium release under Stelvin, and wrote to all their customers expalining why they were doing it. If its good for industry, and improves the prospects for long term cellaring, its all good for wine lovers.

I agree tho, it does suck cracking a screw cap off a lovely dusty bottle of Shiraz. And it will some time before we see something lke a Grange Hermitage under stelvin or synthetic cork.

$30 for Antico?!!!

Its 12.99 here in Pa, with our absurd liquor laws, and 7.99 in Jersey. Its going to be the house red in my bar/restaurant, as its a screaming deal in good years. The '90 was unbelievable. It ages really well for 2-3 yrs in the bottle, but dies beyond that. The vinyard is adjacent to many of the great brunello vinyards.

I do like synth cork, but its hell on a screwpull style corkscrew.

A local guy, who's a prolific writer and drinks a lot of wine talked about wine on our local board. Interesting what the cork actually does:

Heh heh, heh heh... He said "taint".... heh heh....

Re: My first synthetic cork
 

In "Practical Winery & Vinyard" magazine the ads for non-cork wine bottle closures are many. One of the most interesting is the Zork. They have a marketing agent in the US.

Your first synthetic cork? You must drink better wine than I do . . .

Corks will eventually be widely replaced with screwtops - because that's actually a more efficient way of sealing most wines. Most Swiss wines for example are now screwtops - regardless of price of the bottle. Just a question of educating the consumer.

But there will probably always be those who think that cork = class, just as there will always be Wayne Newton fans.

I have some 80's vintage Far Niente and that cork better not be going bad!

That said, I would rather pay $5 bux less for a bottle of my favourite swill than have a nice cork in the top. As long as they syn version works can live with it on the cheaper "daily use" wines.

Joe

Wine comes in something other than a box? Wow, I'll have to check my 7/11 on Friday.

I bought it at Disney's Epcot Center. Ever been there? A hamburger costs $8. I was not sure if I could get this wine anywhere else at the time so I bought a bottle at Epcot and probably paid twice as much.

I will have to go to te wine store and see if I can find it locally.

In RI, Monte Antico goes for between $10 and $13 usually. It's a great bargin for a really nice bottle!

For around the same price point, they also have a brand called "Bollini." It comes in Pinot Grigo, Chardonnay, Cab, and some other varities. Fine wine at really reasonable prices.

You can't go wrong with an Empson & Co. bottle, in my very biased opinion :)

I had a whole bunch of beautiful '85 cabs. Lost about1/3 of them due to bad corks.

I lost some Caymus special select, Silver Oak and took a bottle of Opus to a restaurant and the sommelier returned to our table with a face just as sour as the wine. Big disappointment.

I'm not sure if some degree of cork permeability is important for proper ageing of reds. If it's not, I'd rather have a screwtop or synthetic cork and stop losing nice wines.

Moses, I have a few extra Silver Oaks 93, 96 Napa and Alex. Valley that I am willing to trade, what do you have that is interesting?

I am a big fan of the Stelvin closure, now that our benevolent FDA has eliminated lead capsules. The replacement plastic capsules or worse, the sharp aluminum ones, have destroyed the cork aesthetic. Might as well go with the better engineering solution.

In Europe, a screwcap closure is becoming accepted on the most sought-after wines. It's not the closure that you drink anyway.

I have some '90 BR Cohn and one of my all-time favorites is Stonestreet Legacy. I have a lot of BV cabs as well.

If any of you guys are interested in 90 Vintage Dom PM me. My friend has lots and lots in special storage, some in Millenium boxes.

I think he wants $150 a bottle.

I telephoned a Nor Cal winery a few years ago asking about the synth corks they had started using. Their people told me it was because a small percentage of their users had some type of allergy against the cork. Go figure.

I wish they could make reds without sulfites. I have a friend who loves wine, but sulfites give him instant migraines. Bummer.

That is why I cant drink wine, Moses.

Instant migrane

You need to drink more....I think I've seen a few here and there for a year or so now. I also just had my first screw top, once you get past the cheap "feel", it probably makes sense.

I've got some Silver Oaks, Quintessas and some Bordeauxs that I keep my fingers crossed on.....

Funny, after five or six rum and cokes I get a headache... do you suppose the put sulfites in that stuff too?

Re: Re: My first synthetic cork
 

That looks like a great design.

i wish some great wines would come from a box. for those one glass evenings, it would work out nicely.

(rimshot) Good one. Not being able to drink wine IS sobering. :D

They don't put cork closures on plastic bag wines as far as I know.
:D