 Cellar Master in April: Australia
Our Cellar Master series is a
great way to learn about and sample some of the higher priced wines in our
store. On the third Thursday of each month, we offer more than just
a wine tasting - you'll participate in an educational
seminar, receive a take-home booklet, taste a full flight of nine wines, and
sample hors d'oeuvres
paired to the wines.
On Thursday, April 17th, we will
present a program on wines from Australia. Space is limited,
so call now to
reserve your spot for this event:
Thursday, April
17th
6:30 - 8 pm
Cellar Master Series - Australia
$25 per person
Call for Reservations: 630.435.9463
or toll-free 1.888.656.9463
(back to top)
|
In this issue:
The Capper on the Bottle
Product Features
Great Value Italian Wines
Schedule of Events
NEW STORE HOURS
An Easy Way to Learn Wines
Legal Notice on Ordering Wine
|
Feature Article
The
Capper on the Bottle - What's Really OK?
An
emerging trend in the wine industry that’s been getting quite a bit of
press lately is that of alternative wine bottle closures – in other
words, synthetic corks or screw caps.
(Gasp! Did you say
screw caps??!!!)
Yes,
we really did say screw caps. Believe
it or not, newer technologies have advanced the use of screw caps on fine
wines, and more wineries are starting to use them on fine wines. As you can imagine, the biggest hurdle to overcome is
customer acceptance.
The
driving force behind the move to different types of wine bottle closures
is the increasing amount of “corked” wine, that is, wine ruined
because of a failure of the cork during aging and/or storage.
Exact figures on spoilage are hard to determine because mild
corkiness often goes unnoticed, but there seems to be an increasing amount
of failed corks. Some have
estimated between 2 – 4% of all wine is affected or even spoiled.
Wineries
are looking to reduce this problem, and have learned that alternative
closures can be more reliable than traditional corks.
Reasons that traditional corks fail include:
-
Wine
production is outstripping the number of cork trees, so we are running
out of high-quality cork
-
Lower
cost wines are capped with cheaper cork
-
Contamination
of corks during the wine bottling process
The most common contaminant is an organism called
2,4,6-trichloroanisole, or TCA. Molds
can also spoil corks and wine.
Synthetic
corks are already in use by a number of wineries, and screw caps are
beginning to be visible. Our
position at Wine Expressions is – as long as the closure works, and the
wine can be held under historical aging requirements, then the closure is
just fine. We have seen alternative
closures work well, and we encourage you to remain open minded when you
see them in use.
With
screw caps, the laminate inside the cap is critical to successful wine
aging and storage. It must
remain fixed inside the cap, maintain stability through temperature
shifts, and prove impervious to alcohol.
The screw cap manufacturers have experience in meeting stringent
demands for closures from supplying the chemicals industry for such
materials as herbicides and pesticides.
Advancements in that arena have led to reliable closures for wines.
We
expect to see different emphases from different countries regarding wine
bottle closures. For example,
Chile typically moves quickly on technical wine-making matters; this is a
group that may move quickly into alternative closures.
Villa Maria, from New Zealand, already uses screw caps on their
wines. We carry the Villa
Maria Sauvignon Blanc in our store – it’s a wonderful, highly rated
wine and people enjoy it.
PlumpJack
winery in California is moving to screw caps on their fine wines.
Australia has been using synthetic corks, so moving to other
alternatives may not be a big leap for them.
We also carry an Australian Shiraz by Jester in our store –
another fine wine with great ratings, that has screw cap closures on the
bottles.
More
traditional wineries, such as those found in Bordeaux, Burgundy and parts
of Italy, will probably take a long time to change their approach.
We think that high-end wines, pricing at $100 or more per bottle,
will continue to use traditional cork, of the highest quality, to close
the bottles.
Again,
we encourage you to keep an open mind as you see increasing numbers of
alternative wine bottle closures in the marketplace. Experiment and taste the wines, and we expect you’ll be
pleased.
(back to top)
|
Welcome
to Our Newsletter
We've
been adding names to our mailing list, so a special welcome to those who
are new to our newsletter!
We
try to publish every three weeks (or so), and we hope you find it
informative.
Our
newsletter mailing is only generated from direct customer requests and the personal email
archives of Wine Expressions' owners. We do not buy or sell
addresses.
You are welcome to pass this newsletter along to a friend, or
click unsubscribe to
be removed from our lists.
By
the way, we never share your email or address information with anyone
else.
(back to top)
This Month's Feature
One
of our fine Italian wines is the 1997 Caparzo La Casa Brunello. This
Sangiovese is highly rated by both the Wine Spectator (94) and Robert
Parker (86).
Robert
Parker describes it as "medium garnet color as well as a sweet
perfume of cherries, loamy soil scents, herbs and a hint of tobacco."
NEW PRODUCT: Chocolate-Covered
Wines
We
are partnering with Winans Chocolates in Lisle to present these unique
gifts. One of our fine wines is shrink- wrapped in cellophane then
hand-dipped in layers of fine chocolate.
You
simply peel off the wrapper to break apart the chocolate, open the wine
and enjoy! Perfect for Mother's Day! Call or stop by to
place your orders.
|
We've recently added a series of Italian wines that are priced to deliver
great value to you. These special selections include Chianti,
Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and a Chianti Reserva - and ALL are priced under $20
a bottle.