[HN Gopher] The Politics of Wine in 18th-century England
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       The Politics of Wine in 18th-century England
        
       Author : pepys
       Score  : 63 points
       Date   : 2021-12-20 15:32 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.historytoday.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.historytoday.com)
        
       | sinbadpalomar wrote:
       | Having been a wine collector and sometime winemaker I found this
       | fascinating. Claret is truly a cultural force of its own but I'm
       | pleased its power is waning as a tastemaker. (Although less so in
       | the states).
       | 
       | If anyone cares for wine advice AMA even though it is all
       | bullshit there still is good and bad wine which is a strange
       | combination.
        
         | thom wrote:
         | Thoughts on screwtops?
        
           | poulsbohemian wrote:
           | I live in Washington's wine country. A recent quote from a
           | winemaker I spoke with who produces both their own labels and
           | those of other labels: "If consumers would accept them, we'd
           | do everything in screw tops." His reasoning is exactly what
           | you'd expect: cork taint is real, it's difficult to reseal
           | with a cork in the event you don't drink the entire bottle,
           | and if the bottle is going to be cellared for a long time the
           | cork will play a role in how it ages. Plus they seem to be
           | aware of the environmental side + cost of using cork.
           | Synthetic corks are a middle ground that according to the
           | winemakers I've spoken with have the same basic issue -
           | consumers equate natural cork with a higher quality product
           | (at least in the US - apparently in Australia it's entirely
           | screw tops).
        
             | eatYourFood wrote:
             | What's wrong with a simple metal wine stopper with rubber
             | to block the neck of the bottle?
        
               | hammock wrote:
               | What's the benefit of that vs a synthetic cork?
        
               | eatYourFood wrote:
               | Probably nothing but most decent French wines use a cork
               | and I use stopper to close it if we're not finishing the
               | bottle. I guess I could buy a fake cork instead but it's
               | pretty much the same at that point.
               | 
               | My point was, it's not hard to seal an opened cork bottle
        
             | wumpus wrote:
             | I had a funny bit in a restaurant recently: we asked the
             | waiter to recommend something, and he shows up with a
             | bottle and a corkscrew and a white towel, ready to do the
             | bottle-opening ceremony. He extolled the virtues of the
             | wine, finishing off with "And there is only one
             | drawback..."
             | 
             | And then he twisted off the top.
             | 
             | It was hilarious. I'd love it if all wines were screwtops.
        
             | dgivney wrote:
             | Can confirm, Australian Wine is now almost entirely screw
             | tops.
        
         | hammock wrote:
         | Why do you hate claret/bourdeaux?
        
         | hammock wrote:
         | As far as collectible wines go, do you see Bordeaux's star
         | falling and what is rising in your view?
        
         | monetus wrote:
         | Have you tried aldi's $3 wines?
        
           | scns wrote:
           | The 3EUR Cabernet-Sauvignon from Calfornia is sold for 5EUR+
           | in a different bottle at more "upscale" supermarkets.
           | Burlwood IIRC.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2021-12-21 23:01 UTC)