Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
I knew these tricks as I watched the Walk in the Clouds movie 
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The Wine Cellar
- Thread starter NurseDave
- Start date
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Yep.....................with the wife...............They used wings to flap the heat onto the grapes.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Wait...why are you watching that movie?
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Wine research to pick just the right box
JWS VII
0
@NurseDave here is a question for you (I don’t think it’s been addressed, but forgive me): what are your thoughts on screw top wines? Seems like it used to be for 2-buck chuck, but more expensive bottles seem to have it these days? Maybe ok in light of your comments on most wine being designed to be drank within 1-2 years?
100% For inexpensive wines and white wines (which only a very very tiny percent are good for aging) a screw top is, I would argue, the best choice to sealing the bottle. It allows NO oxygen to get in and you run no risk of cork taint. Other than the cool factor that comes with corks, there is no reason to use them unless you want a tiny exchange of oxygen to age your wine. Which would restrict the usefulness to red wines. Whether or not it makes a difference in wines you'll keep for a year to two is argued both ways. Those you're going to buy and drink in a week, it makes no difference. Of course, there is the whole experience of popping out that cork and the visual compared to just unscrewing the top like a bottle of pop.
Now, cork taint. I think many people don't know that is the the actual reason one would smell the cork or take a small taste of a wine in a restaurant. You're not going to get a sense of the overall nose of the wine smelling from the cork, nor are they going to let you return a bottle because you decide you don't like how it tastes. What they will do is let you return it if it's infected with cork taint. TCA is a chemical that comes from a cork that has been exposed to a certain fungus. When used to seal a bottle, only a tiny amount can effect the whole thing. It will smell like wet cardboard and taste somewhat the same. Thought people have different sensitivities to this and some don't notice it at all. I've only run into one bottle that had this. The others drinking it didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but down the sink it went. Because this really sucks when it happens to expensive wines, high end producers not only buy high end corks of course from specific forests, but will also have batches of corks randomly tested for TCA before using them. And even some pay to have every individual cork tested.
JWS VII
0
This is a very interesting post and I’ve been meaning to respond. Didn’t know that about the cork!
Related question for all of us novice wine drinkers: Say you order a bottle of wine at a decent restaurant. They do the whole sommelier thing (as they should) where they open the bottle at the table and pour a splash of wine in a glass for someone to taste. If you (1) know nothing about nothing, and (2) happen to be that someone tasked with taking a “taste”, how do you pull off the smelling/tasting without looking like a complete nincompoop?
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All nincompoops and other people named Dave want to know...
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
You can just nod approval without tasting
This happens to me a lot. Luckily, my wife know a little and I defer to her. But in my experience, if you let the Sommelier know that you don't know much about wine...they are happy to explain and let you know what to look for while you breath in the wine flavors and then taste. The wife and I went to DC last year and went to a restaurant where they had basically a "host" for so many tables who took the order, orchestrated serving of drinks and food. He talked to us at length (but definitely not in a rude way and knew when to leave us a lone). Anyway...he was more than happy to share with us recommendations, then explained to us the characteristics of the wine we chose. This time, even though I defered to the wife, he still gave me the glass. So I breathed in the wine while he was explaining the scent characteristics and then sipped the wine while he explained the tastes I should be picking up. And that was that. It was really educational and I appreciated the experience.This is a very interesting post and I’ve been meaning to respond. Didn’t know that about the cork!
Related question for all of us novice wine drinkers: Say you order a bottle of wine at a decent restaurant. They do the whole sommelier thing (as they should) where they open the bottle at the table and pour a splash of wine in a glass for someone to taste. If you (1) know nothing about nothing, and (2) happen to be that someone tasked with taking a “taste”, how do you pull off the smelling/tasting without looking like a complete nincompoop?
....
All nincompoops and other people named Dave want to know...
Oooo, Penfolds. On my list to explore sometime.
A couple good responses to this already.
There are two reasons for being given a taste in a restaurant. The primary is to see if the wine is corked as discussed above. You give it a quick swirl, sniff and take one sip. You're make sure it doesn't taste like cardboard and then give approval to pour. A simple nod or verbal cue is enough. At some nicer wineries you'll also see your host doing this themselves for just the same reason. And yes, they usually spit out their sip but not always.
The other reason for being given a taste would be if you conferred with the sommelier or server about the wine and they were instrumental in helping you make a selection. In this case it's fair to take a little more time. Swirl and smell a little longer and then think about the flavors and finish in your sip. If you truly do not like it and express that, they might allow you to try something else. My understanding is that this is very hit or miss and also dependent on the price of the bottle. If they just popped open a $200 bottle for your anniversary and there is nothing wrong with it other than you don't like it, chances are you'll be stuck with it. If it was a $15 bottle at the suggestion of the restaurant, you might be able to swap it out.
Personally, most of the time when they pour my sip I tell them to go ahead and pour without tasting. I don't need to take their time and if the wine is corked it doesn't matter how much they poured, it's all going down the sink anyway. It's in @dangerousdon's case that I would more likely take my time and analyze that taste to continue or conclude the discussion with the sommelier.
BTW, I love to talk about wine as you can see. But even I think those guys that make a big show of swirling their glass never ending, looking at the colour of the edge of the wine against the white table cloth, and then slurping and swishing their first sip while making everyone watch and wait, are a bunch of pompous tools.
Opening a bottle - How hard can this be right? As long as the wine ends up in your glass, then you’ve pretty much got it covered. But there are a few little tidbits I can share.
The foil. Back in the day, the foil cap was placed on the top of the bottle to protect the cork. When wine cellars were truly cellars, insects, rats, the mold that was the sign of a well humidified room all were unfriendly to the cork. Now it’s an aesthetic hold over and some producers have started to leave it off. If you’re actually storing your wine in your crawl space, then it’s still going to be fairly important. The question is what’s the right thing to do with it when you’re opening a bottle? For the best experience and what you’ll see in most restaurants just the top of the foil is removed. Where you cut is personal preference and a matter of debate. There is a flat glass band near the top of the bottle. Anywhere from just above the band, to the middle of the band to just at the bottom of the band are all choices. In many corkscrews there is a small blade for removing the cap. If you’re using a blade, usually the cut is at the bottom of the band. You can also get a little gizmo specifically made for cutting the foil off wine bottles. These cut it just above that band. Anywhere you cut it, the idea is that leaving the rest of the foil on the bottle during service just makes it look nicer. At home, feel free to use that little blade to cut up from the bottom of the foil and pull the whole darn thing off it you don’t care about it being there. I’m personally probably 50/50 which I do.
Removing the cork. Again, as long as the cork comes out in one piece, then whatever way you used to do it worked. The most popular method is the use of the Waiter’s Corkscrew. These are the ones the size of a pocket knife with a flip out corkscrew, a lever to rest on the top edge of the bottle to pull up against and a blade for the foil discussed above. There are of course many variations on this theme and the easiest ones to use have two notches on the lever to give you better mechanical advantage. One notch as you just get the cork started out of the bottle and the other to allow you to pull it the rest of the way.
The two keys when using these are keep it centered and vertical and don’t screw it in too far. When starting the corkscrew into the cork, remember that where the point is, isn’t the center of the spiral. i.e. to center the corkscrew, the tip needs to be started just off-center. Once you get about 1 turn in, stop and make sure the whole corkscrew is straight. If you’re off at an angle, you run the risk of the screw running out to the side of the cork and increasing the chance of breaking the cork. Then, start screwing it in. You’ll want to stop once there is just one full turn of the screw visible outside the cork. The reason for this being it ensures the tip of the screw doesn’t poke through the other side which could cause cork pieces to break free into the bottle. Not the end of the world, but easy enough to prevent. Now, just put the middle notch of the lever on the top edge of the bottle and pull up on the handle. Depending on the bottle and age, this can take some good pressure. Don’t worry. As long as this isn’t a 20 year old bottle and your screw is straight, you’re not going to break that cork. Once you’ve pulled up as far as you can at that setting, you put the end notch of the lever on the bottle and pull the rest of the way. You should get the cork most of the way out with ½” or so left. Simple wrap your hand around the cork and screw and gentle rock as you pull it the rest of the way out.
Other tools for cork removal consist of needles that inject nitrogen or CO2 into the bottle to push the cork out. Electric screws that drill themselves in and then pull the cork out with the touch of a button. Large level driven corkscrews that give you a lot more mechanical advantage. And on and on. All of these are fine for most bottles out there. The only drawback is not being able to control the depth of whatever is piercing the cork and risking cork in your wine.
The last tool is called the Ah-so. This is two flat blades that you wiggle down between the cork and the bottle then slowly twist and pull at the same time to remove the cork. This takes some skill and is really the only acceptable way to remove a cork from an older bottle of wine. As a cork ages it can get brittle and break apart when a screw is used to remove it. It can take some practice to use one of these as it’s fairly easy to push the cork further into the bottle as you’re trying to slide the blades in.
The foil. Back in the day, the foil cap was placed on the top of the bottle to protect the cork. When wine cellars were truly cellars, insects, rats, the mold that was the sign of a well humidified room all were unfriendly to the cork. Now it’s an aesthetic hold over and some producers have started to leave it off. If you’re actually storing your wine in your crawl space, then it’s still going to be fairly important. The question is what’s the right thing to do with it when you’re opening a bottle? For the best experience and what you’ll see in most restaurants just the top of the foil is removed. Where you cut is personal preference and a matter of debate. There is a flat glass band near the top of the bottle. Anywhere from just above the band, to the middle of the band to just at the bottom of the band are all choices. In many corkscrews there is a small blade for removing the cap. If you’re using a blade, usually the cut is at the bottom of the band. You can also get a little gizmo specifically made for cutting the foil off wine bottles. These cut it just above that band. Anywhere you cut it, the idea is that leaving the rest of the foil on the bottle during service just makes it look nicer. At home, feel free to use that little blade to cut up from the bottom of the foil and pull the whole darn thing off it you don’t care about it being there. I’m personally probably 50/50 which I do.
Removing the cork. Again, as long as the cork comes out in one piece, then whatever way you used to do it worked. The most popular method is the use of the Waiter’s Corkscrew. These are the ones the size of a pocket knife with a flip out corkscrew, a lever to rest on the top edge of the bottle to pull up against and a blade for the foil discussed above. There are of course many variations on this theme and the easiest ones to use have two notches on the lever to give you better mechanical advantage. One notch as you just get the cork started out of the bottle and the other to allow you to pull it the rest of the way.
The two keys when using these are keep it centered and vertical and don’t screw it in too far. When starting the corkscrew into the cork, remember that where the point is, isn’t the center of the spiral. i.e. to center the corkscrew, the tip needs to be started just off-center. Once you get about 1 turn in, stop and make sure the whole corkscrew is straight. If you’re off at an angle, you run the risk of the screw running out to the side of the cork and increasing the chance of breaking the cork. Then, start screwing it in. You’ll want to stop once there is just one full turn of the screw visible outside the cork. The reason for this being it ensures the tip of the screw doesn’t poke through the other side which could cause cork pieces to break free into the bottle. Not the end of the world, but easy enough to prevent. Now, just put the middle notch of the lever on the top edge of the bottle and pull up on the handle. Depending on the bottle and age, this can take some good pressure. Don’t worry. As long as this isn’t a 20 year old bottle and your screw is straight, you’re not going to break that cork. Once you’ve pulled up as far as you can at that setting, you put the end notch of the lever on the bottle and pull the rest of the way. You should get the cork most of the way out with ½” or so left. Simple wrap your hand around the cork and screw and gentle rock as you pull it the rest of the way out.
Other tools for cork removal consist of needles that inject nitrogen or CO2 into the bottle to push the cork out. Electric screws that drill themselves in and then pull the cork out with the touch of a button. Large level driven corkscrews that give you a lot more mechanical advantage. And on and on. All of these are fine for most bottles out there. The only drawback is not being able to control the depth of whatever is piercing the cork and risking cork in your wine.
The last tool is called the Ah-so. This is two flat blades that you wiggle down between the cork and the bottle then slowly twist and pull at the same time to remove the cork. This takes some skill and is really the only acceptable way to remove a cork from an older bottle of wine. As a cork ages it can get brittle and break apart when a screw is used to remove it. It can take some practice to use one of these as it’s fairly easy to push the cork further into the bottle as you’re trying to slide the blades in.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Don't know if I'd ever have a bottle old enough to need that but it is a cool item. I have a foil cutter, wing type and waiters cork screws. Nice info Dave !