Screw cap Le Pin

Caught an interesting tidbit while browsing through the Vinous Live with Fiona Morrison MW & Jacques Thienpont of Le Pin…in 2004 they experimented with screw caps on about 2 cases…aged them for 7 or so years…didn’t like them at all…“went down hill fast”…oxidized too much! Would have liked more discussion there!

Anyone ever seen one? Wonder if there is any left?

Bottling line operator error?

Sure sounds like it. For just a couple of cases, it is very possible that it was a mechanical problem leading to off-spec use of the closure. I recall that many of the machines of that era needed tuning/calibration to get the seal right and could be finnicky.

fred

Really interesting, and I’d love to hear more of what happened. Usually in these cases, it’s the opposite that folks have discussed - too little oxygen and therefore not enough development.

And I would agree with the others that there was most likely issues with the application of the screw caps at that time - since they did such a small run, it probably was not calibrated accordingly. In addition, the liner chosen could have had something to do with this as well.

Hoping others may have more insight into this - and wondering if this was a ‘one off’ or if they repeated this ‘experiment’ more than once?

Cheers.

Yes, that does sound like a bottling line problem. There’s different equipment involved for screwcaps.

I did the same with 2 cases of natural corks - aged them for 7 years - had random oxidation and a few had TCA. Decided that was that and didn’t want to use natural corks ever again!

(this was just meant as a humorous reply - but I’m hopeful that neither they or anyone else finds their data ‘fact’ that screw caps should not be used for their wines . . .)

Carry on . . .

Spot on and well said, Larry.

Not at all similar to decades of experience in Australia.

I’ve seen this type of thing before, where the producer wanted to say they had trialed screwcaps but seemed to not want them to work out. We tasted side by side a cork and screwcap bottling. The screwcap was very tight, less expressive and less aromatic than the cork bottle. I asked if the winemaker had decreased his SO2 addition just before bottling. He said he had not and did not care to do another trial. Case closed.

Not at all similar to decades of experience in Australia.

Should have have consulted with the head wine maker at Yellow Tail!

Confused. Never thought of Yellow Tail as wine

Confused. Never thought of Yellow Tail as wine >

They do know screw caps!

There’s a bunch of different thinking that goes into making a wine for each closure. Apples and oranges…

Buzz, thanks for posting I have not had a chance to watch yet. Maybe it is just me, but I find it hard to believe that a domaine with the resources of Le Pin would have a “bottling line operator error” but I know absolutely zero about bottling line operations.

That looks like exactly what happened here, to me.

That’s just what I think every time I open a corked or premoxed bottle — how can these well- known wine producers, many of them very wealthy, still manage to sell me damaged goods. Doesn’t make sense.