The SOMM Journal

August / September 2017

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68 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017 Screwcaps and ride-sharing services were both game-changing problem-solvers that permanently shifted the landscape of our day-to-day world. While their benefits are notable—bespoke carefree transport and bartender wrist-saving by-the-glass options among them—their disadvantages are gaining traction. Let's sideline the ignorance, arrogance and dangerous maneuvers of unregu - lated renegade drivers and dive into wine closures. Aluminum twist off screwcaps (TOSC), are technically recyclable, but the caps are too small to fit through the grates of recycling machinery, so the only way to recycle them is to flatten them and stash inside an aluminum can. Along with plastic corks, they rely on petrochemicals and mining, according to Ridge Chief Operating Officer/Monte Bello Winemaker Eric Baugher. Neither provides a perfect seal. If the capping machine goes out of calibration, for example, the seal may be liquid tight but not airtight, leading to premature oxidation (prem-ox). Baugher continues, "Early on in our experiments with plastic corks, we found Dry Creek Vineyards has the world's first design patent that allows the winery to provide relevant winemaking information right on the cork: the name of the forest, the tree, the date of harvest, etc. Like many other wineries, Dry Creek Vineyards is committed to natural corks, as here in the Dry Creek Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel. PHOTO COURTESY OF DRY CREEK VINEYARDS PHOTO COURTESY OF DRY CREEK VINEYARDS RENAISSANCE THE WORLD EMBRACES CORK CLOSURES by Caerine Fallis, MS (aka grape godde) Natural Natural A

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