Alternative Wine Closures: Glass Wine Corks!

Move over Wine Corks,  Synthetic Wine Corks & the Screwcap!

Last week I opened a bottle of Calera Viognier 2007 because, well, I love Viognier especially from California producers. I haven’t had Calera for some time, perhaps several years, so it was like visiting with an old friend. I’ve had this wine before, but it has been a few years. What came next was not shocking—but sure as heck, surprised the heck out of me.

Instead of popping a cork or twisting off the cap, I cut foil to find a glass closure. 

Glass! Was Calera just trying to one-up the competition or was this closure for real? I certainly thought Calera was above gimmicks and after tasting the wine, I would have to agree this is no gimmick. The Viognier was exactly what I thought (and hoped) it would be with nectarine aromas, silky texture that produced a wonderful mouth feel and long, lingering finish.

After sharing this bottle with friends before dinner, we decided to continue the investigation of Calera and the glass closure over a seafood dinner. So we order the Calera Pinot Noir. I think it was the Mt. Harlan Cuvee and it, too, was delightful. Lots of layering aromas and complexity, yet easy to drink and a perfect match for the seafood our table was ordering.

OK, no gimmicks here with the glass closure.

A real wine stopper. This glass stopper had a o-ring seal that obviously prevented oxidation and obvious held the stopper in and kept the wine from falling out!

“This can’t be cheap,” I thought.

I wonder if there are any “scientific” comparisons that demonstrate the effectiveness of the stoppers?

People who have any history of wine drinking have obviously observed and opened wine with alternative wine closures.  Remember the first screw caps. It seems like they have been on New Zealand wines for perhaps a decade. Many people, myself included, believe they provide a tighter seal than cork, which is both good and bad. But the screwcap needs a better press agent.

I think many people still associate screwcaps with “cheap” wines.

We have all struggled wrestling those extremely tight fitting synthetic corks out of bottles as well. They almost look like real corks. They more or less make that popping noise when open and once out of the bottle they are hard to put back in. And, my “green” spouse reminds me, they are not biodegradable.

But did I tell you about the glass closures?

They are really, really neat. I may have to keep buying Calera unless someone out there knows what other wines have glass closures or glass stoppers?

 

 

Tags: glass wine closure, Screwcap wine, Synthetic Wine Corks, Wine Corks

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Wine Packaging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post