Joe Dressner
Joe Dressner
All the 2009 wines from Brun and the second bottling on from Ppire 2009s will come in regular corks.
We have been using synthetic corks for a while and I'm sick of using a closure which has a known failure rate and which prevents people from keeping their wines for several years. I'd rather risk an occasional corked bottle.
On the whole, we've been happy with the progress made by the cork producers and find we have far less problems than we had years ago.
Wine is a risky proposition with little guarantees. As far as I can tell, cork is the only closure we have with decent results tested over a long period of time. We did one experiment with Ppire and screw caps and the wine was not what it should have been. If everyone would just drink Pp and Brun within two years we'd stay with the synthetics, but even I like to keep these wines.
So, we'll have some corked wine. Personally, I'm happy to pay for an occasional corked bottle in the interest of still having the chance to age my wine.
What happens to wines that are corked and rejected by consumers. Mostly everyone credible eats the expense, because it is too much trouble to do endless credits, paperwork, etc. Returned bottles are viewed as a cost of business, factored into the price of the wine you are buying at your table which is not corked.
As a New York distributor, we receive maybe 3 or 4 returns every 7 months. Sometimes less. It is a rare occurrence.
As an importer, we have received complaints in the past from distributors out-of-state about particular wines that appeared to have had a series of bad corks. In those cases, we've tested the wines and refunded or replaced wines in conjunction with the producer (who generally has heard complaints in several markets). We have usually split the losses with the producer because no one is really at blame.
So, how can we tolerate a product with a known failure rate? Frankly, because we love wine and there is not more unnatural, manipulative and dangerous than forcing wine into 750 ML bottles. It is almost cruel and inhuman but we can't see a better way to transport and drink the stuff outside the zone of production.
Anyone for vats?
We have been using synthetic corks for a while and I'm sick of using a closure which has a known failure rate and which prevents people from keeping their wines for several years. I'd rather risk an occasional corked bottle.
On the whole, we've been happy with the progress made by the cork producers and find we have far less problems than we had years ago.
Wine is a risky proposition with little guarantees. As far as I can tell, cork is the only closure we have with decent results tested over a long period of time. We did one experiment with Ppire and screw caps and the wine was not what it should have been. If everyone would just drink Pp and Brun within two years we'd stay with the synthetics, but even I like to keep these wines.
So, we'll have some corked wine. Personally, I'm happy to pay for an occasional corked bottle in the interest of still having the chance to age my wine.
What happens to wines that are corked and rejected by consumers. Mostly everyone credible eats the expense, because it is too much trouble to do endless credits, paperwork, etc. Returned bottles are viewed as a cost of business, factored into the price of the wine you are buying at your table which is not corked.
As a New York distributor, we receive maybe 3 or 4 returns every 7 months. Sometimes less. It is a rare occurrence.
As an importer, we have received complaints in the past from distributors out-of-state about particular wines that appeared to have had a series of bad corks. In those cases, we've tested the wines and refunded or replaced wines in conjunction with the producer (who generally has heard complaints in several markets). We have usually split the losses with the producer because no one is really at blame.
So, how can we tolerate a product with a known failure rate? Frankly, because we love wine and there is not more unnatural, manipulative and dangerous than forcing wine into 750 ML bottles. It is almost cruel and inhuman but we can't see a better way to transport and drink the stuff outside the zone of production.
Anyone for vats?
