Exciting News: Screwcaps Coming to Long Island Wine
A little birdy has informed me that a well-known and well-regarded Long Island winery is preparing to make the leap into screwcap closures for some of it’s 2007 white wines.
Care to guess which winery?
Okay, I’ll just come out and tell you. It’s Paumanok Vineyards and I think it’s great that they are pioneering the use of screwcap closures here on Long Island. Kareem Massoud, who makes the wines with his father Charles, told me in an email today that:
"…we are currently planning to start bottling wine under screw cap with
our 2007 whites, that does not necessarily mean that all the 2007
whites will be bottled under screw cap. Given that it is a new piece
of machinery, there is always a learning curve, not to mention sourcing
the correct bottles and screw caps. Obviously, before we do it we want
to make sure that quality control has been perfected.
It’s about time that someone made this leap. And the best part is that it’s one of the best wineries, not one of the makers of cheap, sweet plonk.
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- long island wine
- paumanok vineyards
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Nice to see…It’ll be interesting to see how price is effected, though!
Is nothing sacred? Boxes are next right? They stack better and breakage is not a worry.
All whining aside, I understand the motives, it just breaks my heart to open a bottle of wine the same way I open a bottle of coke. Good wine deserves a little foreplay, don’t you think?
I agree, it’s good that a decent winery is making this move. As it is I’m sure some uninformed wine writer somewhere is going to use the screwcaps as reason to knock Long Island wine.
Bill,
I actually don’t think that any wine writer worth anything is going to knock screw caps. They really have gained traction in the industry. You’ll see more and more of it everywhere I think. Just a matter of time…and for fresh whites, I think it’s the absolute best seal going…for the winery (no cork taint losses) and the consumer (no taint, freshness preserved).
The screwcap will be cheaper than cork for Paumanok. The cost of the machinery will be recouped in about three years.
Hooray!
Sometimes foreplay, yes - but sometimes a quickie is called for. Depends on the moment, and it’s all good!
Oh yeah, talking about wine… screwcaps do require new tooling for the bottling line. We’re fortunate to have a good mobile line available with the right equipment. Until your smaller local wineries have access to such a line, they’ll be sticking with cork.
If you aren’t aware, there are at least three other North Fork wineries that WANT to use screw caps - but their production size doesn’t justify the cost of the retooling at this time. When PWG adds screw caps to its line, then I think the tide will turn.
I, too, agree that the screw cap is the way to go - practically speaking - for young wines. But I also I agree with Bill that the ceremony of uncorking a bottle is going to be missed.
But, alas, leave it to the Aussies to “solve” this problem. Waiters serving screw capped bottles have a whole show for the table. The place the bottle cap in the crook of their elbow and break the seal there. Then they roll the bottle down their arm which, when practiced, is precisely the distance needed to leave the cap in their hand and a nice, fresh bottle of open wine in the other - ready to pour. I wish I could find a video of this!
You’re right…I’ve had several wineries tell me that they like the idea of screwcaps…but I’m glad to see someone finally doing it. PWG should have invested in this long ago. Russell is an Aussie after all!
I’d LOVE to see that video if you can find one.
I guess I don’t think I’ll miss the “romantic” nature of corks…but perhaps I will.
Here’s a video. The elbow bit is at the end:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0vpXJrASto
The screw caps will be great. Just wandering will it affect the taste or aging of wines in any way. The change will increase wine sales tremendously. I will write about this in my blog http://www.winesandbenefits.com. Wonderfull insights. Great piece!