As a wine lover who has dedicated a big piece of my liver encouraging people to try different wines of various styles, classics and future classics, from regions far-flung and nearby, I am usually willing and eager to open any bottle and give it a try.
But there are some I dread opening. And no, I don’t mean pet-nats. The bottles I recoil from are sealed in wax.
You’ve seen bottles with wax capsules. They look elegant, sleek, traditional, expensive. They conjure images of peasant vignerons of yore carefully hand-dipping bottles in molten wax, creating a seal that protects the cork from the ravages of time and rodents in the cellar. But today, they are just an affectation.
After all, capsules of any ilk are on their way out.
For years, I’ve understood the best way to open a wax-sealed wine bottle is to dig your corkscrew through the top and pull the cork through the seal. It works, sometimes, leaving a neat circle of wax on the top of the cork and a clean opening for the wine. But just as often, the wax fragments, dropping pieces into the wine and all over the table.
It leaves a mess to clean up, and makes a mess of my mood. In this way, wax capsules are like obscenely heavy bottles — expressions of a winemaker’s ego that makes a bad impression before I even try the wine.
I had one of those problem bottles recently. The worm of my corkscrew went through the wax just fine. But when I tried to anchor the lever on the edge of the bottle, it slipped, gouging parallel lines in the wax. I gave it a quarter turn and tried again. Same result. I finally managed to pull the cork out halfway, but it was clear there was cleanup to do before I could enjoy the wine.
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