http://www.indy.com/posts/5315 en-us Uncorked Great comments by all, and we thank everyone for their feedback. You bring up a great point chewbeckah about the "synthetic" corks. Many wines have gone to that as it is a cheaper alternative to real cork, that is my understanding. I think it is a bit easier to remove as well with the slick sides of the exterior. Nothing wrong with the inexpensive wines at all!! We too like many wines under the $10 price point. That is the beauty of it, you do not have to spend a lot to truly enjoy a great wine experience. That is what Uncorked...A Wine Experience will be all about. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:02:08 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15440 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15440 chewbeckah I noticed last night as I was preparing dinner that my favorite wine uses a cork made of a soft synthetic material, maybe a plastic? Upon further review, I discovered that many of the corks in my home (I confess, I toss corks into an unused vase on the chance I might reuse them for some crafy purpose) are made of this synthetic material. Perhaps these synthetic corks provide the perfect combination of Superficial Uncorking Drama while avoiding cork taint and preserving the natural resource of cork. In considering my opinion, you may also note that most of my favorite wines are from Trader Joe's and cost under $10 a bottle. I'm not ashamed to admit that I enjoy inexpensive wine, which is why I don't mind the plastic cork or the screw top. I guess I might have a different opinion if I bought expensive stuff. I like that my Grey Goose has a cork under the cap :) Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:56:43 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15439 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15439 Jolene.Ketzenberger Corks do add cache and make opening a bottle of feel like something special. But I'd just as soon skip the tableside drama (or the tableside struggle recounted by chewbeckah) and order a bottle of Bonny Doon with a screwcap and just enjoy it. I think the economics of losing bottles to cork taint is what will drive more producers to use screwcaps (and more consumers to look for them). Estimates of the percentages of bottles of wine tainted with the sort of moldy taste of cork taint generally range from 1 to 5 percent, although some say it could be as high as 15 percent. That's a lot of wine to lose. Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:15:28 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15432 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15432 baggles I too prefer corked, also for completely superficial reasons. I guess I don't really mind the screw caps though. It would not deter me from ordering/buying wine. That's crazy that your servers didn't know how to open wine!! We trained forever on it when I was a server, and I had other servers do it for me until I felt comfortablel. I actually felt more awkward when I had to open a screw top in front of a table, it just doesn't seem right. Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:31:33 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15306 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15306 chewbeckah Interesting discussion string! I understand that cork is a precious natural resource, and that screw tops are a perfectly acceptable means of bottling wines that will be consumed within five years or so. In that light, I don't see anything wrong with screw tops for the majority of bottles purchased by the average consumer. On a note of personal experience, I've ordered wine at two different restaurants this month - nice places where dinner for two was over $100 each time... and in both of instances, the inexperienced server struggled to open the bottle, getting their hands all over the neck and mouth of the bottle as the fought with the cork. I did my best to wipe the bottle afterwards, but I couldn't help being grossed out. If servers can't open corked bottles of wine, maybe screw tops are the way to go!!! Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:50:21 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15241 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15241 Braden I'm likely too young to be a traditionalist but I really prefer a cork because of the self-perceived stigma. I know there's nothing wrong with a screw top and that it has it's advantages but there's something about the process of uncorking a bottle that makes it official for me. It's totally superficial though. Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:46:21 -0500 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15237 http://www.indy.com/posts/5315#comment_15237