Screw caps vs corks

A lot of people are on the fence when it comes to screw caps vs corks. For the most part, they think great wines have corks. Yes, screw caps are convenient, but…. Great wines have corks. But I wasn’t one of them. Nope, not me - I could only see the advantages of screw caps. I felt I was being very logical about the whole issue and a screw cap would always preserve the wine quality as good as a cork. And there is no possibility of cork taint, so we should be putting our wine in screw caps.

At least that’s the way I used to feel.

It’s the evening of New Years day and we are at our trailer at Dillon’s Beach, Lawson’s Landing to be exact. Earlier today our new neighbors from Roseville rolled in. We really didn’t know them very well, so when they invited us over for a glass of wine after our sunset walk, we accepted. Nice people! One glass turned into two glasses, and so on. Eventually (They might say Finally) we left & returned to our trailer. We finished off a partial bottle of wine and I selected another to open. By now, I have discovered wisdom and a keen insight into all things philosophical. As I pushed the point of the cork screw into the cork, I surmised that if I had a screw cap bottle, I would already be pouring the glorious nectar. And then I focused on the task at hand. The cork screw had penetrated the cork far enough for me to start the actual screwing process – sorry if that sounds unrefined, but as I was searching for more appropriate words those inappropriate words called out to me first. In that state of mind it was mesmerizing to see the corkscrew getting shorter & shorter. The screw part had all but disappeared when I stopped screwing. And then there was that 2 stage leverage applicator thing. Remember the lever? That’s the thing that first separated us from the other animals. We used it to move rocks around and make fire rings as we waited for someone to invent fire. That 2 stage lever thing makes pulling corks so easy and in my current frame of mind, almost fun. So when the cork had finally & officially exited the bottle, it seemed a victory had been earned. It was cause to celebrate, so I poured My Rudder & myself another glass of wine. I frequently tell my wife Cindy that she’s my rudder in life. That if not for her, I would just float around aimlessly, without direction. Because of that, she’s “My Rudder”. Now that I think about it, I guess she is also my propeller. But try to stay focused, I’m telling a story here.

So anyway, that whole time and labor-intensive process of removing the cork struck a chord with me. It seemed just the right thing to be doing. It was the proper introduction of that wisdom & philosophy inducing beverage as it splashed in the glass. In less than a minute, I had gone from being a screw cap proponent to being on the fence with those other folks. And why is that? Tradition! And as I type that word, Tradition, I can’t help but note the similarities between myself & Tevya from Fiddler On The Roof. Because of tradition, I find myself balancing on the fence the same way the fiddler balanced on the roof. And I have a profile similar to Tevya. Ah yes, If I were a rich man…

Footnote: Yes, when I wrote that I was guilty of BLUI (Blogging under the influence), so cut me some slack. But I do recommend those 2 stage cork-pullers.