Nissley Vineyards & Winery Estate, 140
Vintage Drive, Bainbridge, PA 17502 This page was last changed on August 13, 2010 and confirmed on March 12, 2013 For many reasons, synthetic corks offer a superior closure for wine. We decided to use them for our 2004 Vintage wines, after trial with several 2003 Vintage wines. Now we use the synthetic cork in all Nissley wines. The corks are made of HDPE, which is #2 for recylcing. Traditionalists might be disappointed, but the complaints come from people who find the synthetic cork is difficult to remove. When wine is first in the bottle, the cork is loosely seated, which causes it to recede into the bottle when a corkscrew is applied. After several months in the bottle, the synthetic cork can become very tightly seated, especially when the bottle is cold, and some corkscrews will break. There are many openers available. Generally, the characteristics that we recommend in an opener are: 1) hollow pigtail worm and 2) mechanical leverage. If you have dexterity, the Pulltap Corkscrew will probably be the best choice for you. This is a variation of the so-called Waiter's Corkscrew. This type is preferred by many, because it folds and can be carried in a pocket. Otherwise, we recommend a well-constructed Winged Corkscrew. There are many inferior winged corkscrews on the market. Be sure to look for the hollow pigtail worm. The trick to using a winged corkscrew is two-fold: 1) let the wings rise freely as you screw the worm down, and 2) screw the worm in completely, so that the spiral part is submerged. For those who want a low-priced way to open the bottle, it is necessary to give up the mechanical leverage. The Pocket Corkscrew (also called Picnic Corkscrew) works reasonably well on most corks. With its hollow pigtail worm, it can rescue a cork that is receding into the bottle. We recommend this approach: 1) Screw the worm entirely into the cork until the plastic meets the cork. 2) Continue to turn the handle clockwise while pulling up. 3) If the cork won't budge, hold the neck of the bottle under warm running water for 60 seconds, or rub it between the palms of your hands. Complete instructions are included with the corkscrew that we carry in our shops. As with all of our wine accessories, the openers are not available for shipping. They are available only in our Nissley Wine Shops. © Nissley Vineyards 2013 |
