QOTD : screwcap. I don’t have a problem with cork, however synthetic cork – urghhhh – it stinks, and ruins the wine.

Terrific show! I loved your guest and his stories.
qotd: I don’t like percolated or instant coffee and I don’t like screw tops and (barf) plastic stoppers. Think about it…if a wine is lying on its side the acids in liquid are leeching out not only bad flavors but some pretty creepy chemicals from the tin and plastic. And of course cork is more romantic and fun to open. It’s not just the wine but the process.

Great show with a very interesting guest. Will keep an eye out for the books.

Props to New Zealand, Otago, Pinot Noir. There?s some very good wine coming out of this region.

Tip of the day. Don’t bungy jump AFTER consuming wine and food…

QOTD: Although a romantic at heart I also have a very pragmatic streak which means that screw tops for me are the winner. Its just so simple, no broken corks, no lost bottle openers, easy to reseal and I must repeat that one of the most frustrating things in the whole world is to either forget to take a bottle opener with you on an outing or to rip apart your house looking for a bottle opener that you know is there somewhere, but where, your not sure and finally standing there with a chisel in one hand and a screw driver in the other and knowing that this is going to get messy….

Great Show…QOTD: Glass closure that Sineann uses is probably my favorite…it’s simple, solid, and looks nice.

FANTABULOUS Episode!! I think this one should go in the hall of famer!! I like this one better than the Jancis Robinson ep.

QOTD: Like the cork on reds and screw tops on whites. HATE the synethic corks they suck..like the zork and the glass tops.

QOTD: As an Australian, i’ve definitely been exposed to the aforementioned growing mentality that screwcap is the only way to go, and I absolutely agree with this. I really don’t have any time at all for people who yabber on about tradition and romanticism and the importance of the ‘pop’ of pulling out the cork. I find all that rubbish particularly amusing in the context a show about the Paris tasting. The whole point of that story is that a perfectly unique and exceptional new world wine region was being ignored, shunned and rubbished based on unfair and idiotic traditonalism that so often plagues the wine world, but proved itself against the old guard in a blind, unbiased tasting. I’m sure all the yanks here would rail against any suggestion that Californian wine should still be considered plonk simply because *everyone knows, according to tradition and romanticism, that good wine only comes from France, and maybe Italy and Spain.* With that kind of mentality, American, Australian, New Zealand, Latin American and other wine producing countries would never have had a chance.
Unfortunately, despite consistent research and blind tastings comparing the same wines bottled and aged under cork AND screwcap, all of which generally suggest screwcap to be a far superior seal, ignorance and absurd traditionalism keep the cork in circulation. In the end, it’s been shown that the risks associated with cork FAR outweigh those with screwcap. There is no worse a feeling than to pull out a special bottle that’s been hidden away for 10-15 years on a special occasion, romantically and ceremoniously ‘pop’ the cork, taste the wine, and announce to the party that it’s corked….that special bottle you paid 100 bones for 10 years ago and have been looking forward to for ages….buggered. I think anyone who has had that experience would agree that corks MUST go. I’m starting to only buy Australian and New Zealand wine to put down if it is under screwcap.
Finally, I think the dominance of cork has skewed the concept what is considered to be a ‘good’ aged wine. Even when the is no degree of cork taint involved, the vast majority of corks over the course of a wine’s life will allow varying degrees of gradual oxidisation. This means that the common perception of an aged wine looks, smells and tastes like is broken. The slow destruction of the wine is mistaken for development. In the tiny minority of cases (about 2%) where a cork does what it is meant to do (seal the wine and not permit ANY transfer of gases that lead to oxidisation), the result is a properly aged wine that retains the colour, fruit and natural freshness that a well-aged wine SHOULD have. Unfortunately, people rarely experience REAL development in a good wine. The sooner EVERY wine in the world (including the great wines built for aging) are under screwcap, the better.

Ok, end rant. Haha, clearly a topic I feel passionate about.
Great show GV.

boring – no more boring guests!

uh, do you only eat apple cores, cause i dont think they smell different.

did he say “starbucks?”

i love how upset gary looked when that guy said he dosnt have the video on youtube, come on dude, you should be happy its not on VHS

qotd; my heard says cork, but my head says screw cap.

Absolutely awesome show. Fantastic to get a first hand perspective on how Cali. wines broke through on the world scene.

QOTD: I usually go to the sub $20 market (can’t afford to regularly buy $40+ bottles of wine). Of those about 30% used plastic/synthetic corks (a lot on the German Rieslings I tried), 10% screwtops and 60% regular cork.

Some of the posts re: the disdain of screwtops, I find strange. If it affected the taste of the wine, I can see it. But if it doesn’t, what is the big deal?

Classic show!

QOTD: A big thanks to Mr. Taber for his Q and for his facinating summary of the hx of the cork/closure.

Screwcap. The idea of losing an expensive bottle of wine due to cork issues is crazy to me. I’m fairly new to wine, and have already had 2 bottles that I was really looking forward to turn out to be bad. As a result, 70% of my stuff is from Australia. Plus, Aussie wine is really good. I’d like to try the Zork.

Cork is best for a date, however (feels “classy”, plus there’s some Freudian subconscious stuff going on there).

Synthetic corks are lame. They’re the comb-over of wine closures. If you lose your hair, embrace it.

QOTD: whatever the wine has! i almost never pay attention to it. I guess the screwcap is a little faster to open, which gets me my wine faster, that makes me a happy girl! =)

love the guest! cant wait to see the video. QOTD-definatly cork, I hate synthetics they make me angry! and Im not against screw caps but I dont know how I feel about screw cap aging

QOTD: I’ve always liked the screwtops.

I can’t believe the discount Amazon has on George’s book. I’m definitely picking up a copy. Fantastic guest, Gary. Thanks, George.

great, great show. your guests are consistently interesting, but George may have been the best so far.

QOTD: the closure doesn’t matter to me. If I like the wine or am interested in it, I’ll buy it regardless of how it is sealed.

Very very nice show gentleman!!

QOTD: I will admit I do love the romance in corks. On the other hand I feel a little more at ease with a bottle that has a screw cap, I know that I will not have to worry about that wine being corked.

Normally, I can take or leave shows on which guests appear…….but George was the exception. Very informative, and the conversation was fun to witness.

QOTD. When I open a bottle, my objective is to drink it, so I normally don’t have to worry about “closure”.

Great Guest!! Nice Pick…

QOTD: I still like the cork closure, Especially because I am a chef and I like the service aspect of it tableside. But that being said I don’t think it makes a difference in the wine itself.

Good show. I prefer screw caps. The only wines that need corks are champagnes in my book. I have both of your guest’s books and he is a very interesting guy. I also remember driving to Chalone past the Soledad prison and up into the hills. We saw a bobcat and a coyote on the way up. The winemaker at the time was there and he gave us a private tour and tasting including barrel tastings because it was midwinter and no one was around. No one gets there by accident. Freemark and Chalone go back to my early wine days of the mid ’70’s so I have a fondness for them but they have been up and down.

GV,
Again A Fantastic guest and a fantastic show.
*****Keep these coming *********
I think you love these as much as we do.

QOTD:
No doubt in my mind. Bring on the Glass Toppers

Rich
UpState NY

Nice guest!

QOTD: I would say screw caps. Probably because most of the wines I had were young. But I dont know the effect screw caps have on ageing… so, I cant answer.

Great show. Interesting guy. You have stepped it up allot lately. I ordered 4 of your books one for me and three for wine friends. Ordered some of the wines from the book and we are going to have a little tasting when I give them the books for Christmas.
Love what you do and all you have taught me about wine.
Keep it up. You are more fun than tv as long as football is not on.

CraigC

great episode and great guest! He handled himself better than almost any other guest that I can remember.

I must say that I am for corked closure because I like the romance of it. I have never had a corked bottle before. On the flip side, I always think of cheap wines in connection with screw tops.

I also love using my really cool cork-screw.

I think screw-caps are great, but like pulling a cork as well. Synthetics are more iffy with me.

screwcap no brainer