Comments on: Anyone want to buy my corkscrew stock?

Anyone want to buy my corkscrew stock?

Danf — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 11:13:25 -0800

Given the name of this product, it seemed a natural to post.

By: serafinapekkala

serafinapekkala — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 11:17:59 -0800

"The MetaCork fills an enormous gap in the marketplace" -- huh, maybe they should send one to the Bush economic team.

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 11:21:54 -0800

Can you use any bottle, looks like the bottle was made for this cork.

By: jon_kill

jon_kill — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 11:28:54 -0800

Wait, is this the product that comes after the cork, or is it a cork that somehow transcends the rest? I'm confused.

By: Danf

Danf — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 11:31:51 -0800

Wait, is this the product that comes after the cork, or is it a cork that somehow transcends the rest? It seems like it is a system and contains either a real or synthetic cork. The advantage seems to be the lack of need for a corkscrew.

By: jon_kill

jon_kill — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 11:48:11 -0800

I would say a synthetic cork is pretty real.

By: shadow45

shadow45 — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 11:48:27 -0800

I'll wait for v2.0: Dueling Banjos Edition

By: kozad

kozad — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 12:03:17 -0800

And why exactly would one want to reseal a bottle of wine?

By: trigfunctions

trigfunctions — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 12:10:40 -0800

That's the worst blog design I've ever seen. I tried to join, but they wanted five bucks - no thanks.

By: jon_kill

jon_kill — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 12:12:37 -0800

And why exactly would one want to reseal a bottle of wine? Agreed. When you ask who wants the last glass, and everyone just sits there in stunned silence, give it to the ugliest girl. Problem solved.

By: Postroad

Postroad — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 12:18:49 -0800

I understand that many of the wine comanies, including very good one, moving to screw on caps...if you think cork makes a big diff, you are wrong...cork means bottles must be kept on side in order for cork to say moist...screw-ons do the job and easier. Jst a class notion without merit that believes cork is a must

By: luriete

luriete — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 12:26:34 -0800

4. PROFIT!!

By: xmutex

xmutex — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 12:36:54 -0800

Uhm, it's not corking the cork. How is this a Meta Cork? Can we kill all those who engage in wanton buzzzwordery?

By: mkultra

mkultra — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 12:46:27 -0800

Postroad- exactly. We're also running out of cork, which only comes from one place in the world right now (for wine bottles at least, I can't remember where). kozad/jon_kill- If you have a good enough seal, you can definitely re-cork wine for a day or two. Why waste a few glasses of expensive wine? Restaurants do this all the time with "wine by the glass". It seems, though, that this is not a consumer product, but aimed at vineyards.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:01:57 -0800

I can't remember where I could tell you, but I'd rather let Miguel have the pleasure.

By: keswick

keswick — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:05:50 -0800

Coming soon, from the Coca-Cola Company: Meta-Coke!

By: elwoodwiles

elwoodwiles — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:06:11 -0800

As seen on CBS There are a number of reasons that natural cork is falling out of favor. One is scarcity. Cork is produced only in Portugal, from trees that have proved difficult to grow elsewhere. As other countries, like Chile or Australia, have begun producing fine wines the demand for corks has risen faster than cork can be harvested. Spoilage, or becoming "corked," is another major reason for alternatives. 5% to 10% of wines are spoiled by bad corks. Synthetic and twist-tops can seal a wine without worry of contamination. Synthetic corks have their own problems. They are difficult to remove from both the bottle and then the corkscrew. They also don't re-seal all that well. If bottles are improperly stored and allowed to get too warm synthetic corks are know to pop out on their own accord. Synthetics are mainly used in whites that aren't meant to age more than a few years in the bottle. I've yet to see the screw-top on a bottle. It makes sense on a logical level, but wine is steeped in tradition. It's the traditions around wine that make it, in my opinion, quite interesting. It's going to be a uphill battle to make screw-tops acceptable to "cork dorks" such as myself. I expect less traditional, international styled wines, like wines made in California, will eventually develop a alternate capping method while more traditional wines, like French and Italian styles, will continue to use a cork.

By: jon_kill

jon_kill — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:06:15 -0800

Mkultra: Why open an expensive bottle of wine if you're not going to finish it? And, why use expensive wine for the wine by the glass (which is bullshit anyway)?

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:26:31 -0800

God bless people who don't finish expensive bottles of wine. The best wine I ever had in my life was a 1978 Clos de la Roche from Domaine Dujac that some idiots hadn't finished and thus was lying around available to less ~~filthy rich~~ fortunate folk like myself. Even after several days it was amazing: dark, intense, barnyardy... God, Burgundy is wonderful. [/wine geek]

By: Danf

Danf — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:27:13 -0800

a .pdf file about "Tin Roof" wine. . .one winery's marketing ploy to present screwtop wine as a newer, hipper thing. . . And it does away with the cork altogether, natural, synthetic, meta, what have you.

By: leapfrog

leapfrog — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:36:30 -0800

Metafilter: More than just a beverage.

By: Peter H

Peter H — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:48:56 -0800

the images on this link look like handjob tutorials

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:50:51 -0800

languagehat: "barnyardy"? it will make wine more approachable and will make wine more appealing to none-wine drinkers. Okay, this is all getting far too metaphysical. Wouldn't mind seeing this none-wine, though.

By: zeoslap

zeoslap — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 14:27:43 -0800

mkultra Cork isn't actually running out and is harvested in an entirely sustainable manner. "Conservation groups like the WWF are concerned that the wine industry is moving away from natural cork, a shift that they believe could ultimately cause an environmental and economic crisis in several parts of the Mediterranean region." From here So real cork good, false cork bad.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 14:33:50 -0800

My approach to wine is exactly the same as Dave Barry's, which is "drink it and then look around for more".

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 15:41:07 -0800

jokeefe: Good Burgundy is frequently said to have a scent/flavor of "barnyard" (see the various references to it here and here, for example; in the latter link they even talk about a Chambolle-Musigny as having "feral barnyard notes"). This is a polite way of saying that they have a faint whiff of shit (or, as some like to say, merde). See this discussion:

Pinot noir is a fickle grape that only rarely converts into ambrosial, holy-shit wines. (In fact, some connoisseurs think fecal aromas are a telltale sign of quality in a mature red Burgundy.)

But I have often used Dave Barry's approach, which works very well.

By: chrid

chrid — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:14:05 -0800

MetaCorkFilter!

By: MiguelCardoso

MiguelCardoso — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:42:44 -0800

Ha ha, languagehat! Thanks for the good laff. You're on a roll lately - something must be going particularly well in your life. Here's hoping it continues! :) Screw tops are for losers. And so naff!

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:56:05 -0800

Pinot noir is a fickle grape that only rarely converts into ambrosial, holy-shit wines. (In fact, some connoisseurs think fecal aromas are a telltale sign of quality in a mature red Burgundy.) *resists attempt to make comment revealing philistine lack of knowledge about any kind of wine at all except the stuff we used to buy by the gallon in Banff Alberta and which just sat on the kitchen table until it all disappeared, or maybe just ate through the bottle, no one was really sure, of course these days I just buy whatever has the prettiest picture on the label and costs less than 10 bucks, that is when I buy wine at all, which is never*

By: Wet Spot

Wet Spot — Wed, 17 Sep 2003 20:42:05 -0800

Screwtops be good enough for Gordon Getty's wine.

By: backOfYourMind

backOfYourMind — Thu, 18 Sep 2003 06:38:58 -0800

some connoisseurs think fecal aromas are a telltale sign of quality in a mature red Burgundy That's funny, I thought fecal aromas were a telltale sign of bullshit in wine connoisseurs ;) Languagehat, you must admit you were begging for it...are you seriously telling me that wine-buffs swan in to the local bottle shop and ask for 'something dungy'? Call me unrefined, but I'll stick to drinks that don't reek of poo, thanks all the same.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 18 Sep 2003 08:49:23 -0800

Depends on the buff and the shop. Drink what you like, and I'll do the same (to the extent I can afford it). But I will remind you that every subject has its own special terms, developed by the people most interested in it and understood by them perfectly well; you wouldn't understand the shop talk of physicists or jazz musicians any more than that of wine buffs, and I imagine you have your own special interests that outsiders would find strange and amusing. Try to keep some perspective as you make your merry way through life.

By: Fley Mingmasc

Fley Mingmasc — Thu, 18 Sep 2003 10:05:14 -0800

I've noticed that a lot of New Zealand wineries (including my favourite) are making a big deal about making the move to screwcaps. It appears to be a cooperative effort between quite a number of wineries.

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Sat, 20 Sep 2003 10:50:52 -0800

One word. Stelvin