Cork vs. Screwcap

[Jerry D Mead]

I was being a little (or lot) cutesy, but I do think wines like Sutter Home White Zin might even increase sales if available also in screwcap. Maybe they could sell the same wine in supermarkets with screwcap...and call it some fancy designation with a cork closure for restaurants?...which still doesns't solve the restaurant corky problem, I know. I'm wondering a little here...

I have to tell you that one of my funniest wine experiences ever (and where I first came up with the "screwage" term) was at a snooty Orange County, CA restaurant called Chanticleer. Italian Swiss Colony (then part of Heublein...and sister brand to Inglenook) was releasing its first varietal wines and I was being given an exclusive.

Now I was a semi-regular there (and Robert Balzer was a regular)so they were used to us coming in with vintners...even though this was 20-25 years ago.

A snooty gay waiter named Sean was waiting on us and you should have seen (first) the look on his face when he saw WHAT he was being asked to serve, and (then) easpecially the look when he unscrewed the first cap and so obviously did not know what to do with it. He made a move as if to present it...realized that didn't make sense...started to lay it on the table...didn't like that idea either...looked at the ice bucket as if to drrop it in there...I think he finally stuck it in his pocket before serving the taste (which was mostly useless since the wine couldn't have been corky). That's when I suggested to the winery p.r. guy that it would be interesting to see if they charged him "screwage"!

JDM