Those Damn Wax Capsules....

Just opened a batch of Raveneau Chablis for dinner tonight:

I hate those stupid wax capsules they use. I’m too impatient to do anything else, so I always just screw right through them…

Of course this just ends up making a right mess, getting wax in the wines etc…

Can anyone please definitively prove to me that they serve any real purpose (other than to annoy me) to make me feel better about the whole thing…

Paul,

I agree 100%. Still, screwing right through `em and pulling out the cork half way, then removing the excess and shards before pulling the cork in its entirety is the best way I ever came across. What’s more, you can do it over the sink but imagine having to do this in a restaurant…

Anyway, what did you have? Notes…?

I always put them in a plastic bag, close it with one hand and and remove the wax by knocking on the capsule on top and around with a big knife ( not the cutting side ). Then open the bag carefully ,extract the bottle, get rid of the bag, clean the bottle under water and use the corkscrew. If these wax corks make sense ? At least they reduce the " angels share " why I quite often wax old, cork fragile bottles myself to minimize oxidation.

Paul,

You are doing it the hard way. Put neck under hot water tap for a minute. Slice warm wax just like you would a tin capsule.

Anthony.

Anthony - that is a cool idea! I’ll try that next time.

My own experience is that composition of wax seems to vary. Some wax is fairly pliable, even at cellar temps. In this case I run the foil cutter’s blade up the neck, slice into the wax, then peel it off. Other wax seems to be brittle (e.g. Raveneau) and is more difficult to address. Will have to pull some bottles and experiment

Mark - it might have to do with the age of the wax. On some old Spanish bottles the wax has to be chipped off. I don’t really like the idea of running it under hot water since I want my wine cool and it seems like you’d either be shaking it up by rotating it or you’d be nicely warming the bottle.

But if it works, it may be an option.

Next time I’m going to save the wax and see if I can quickly soften it with a blowtorch. If it works quickly enough, I’ll try it on the wine bottle, or maybe try warming it over the stove real quickly. It never occurred to me but a quick blast might soften the wax. I think the wax is one of the dumbest ideas around.

If you don’t want to run water over it try wrapping it with a hot towel, not as good but…

This has worked for me.

Yes.

I save the wax covered bottles for restaurants and let someone else deal with them!

Everyone knows that wine bottled with a wax seal is superior to wine with a tin capsule which are superior to wine with just a cork. I can’t believe that you don’t know this.

Next thing you’ll be telling us that cabernet in a heavy, thick bottle with a huge deep punt is not better than other cabernet.

I like to wet a washcloth then microwave it for 45 sec. Then wrapped around the cork for a bit.
Softens up all the wax coverings enough to screw thru and not chip.

Exactly.
It’s just marketing - sad thing is, it works.
Best, Jim

I turn on the electric stove on high and hold the bottle over it for a few second to soften the wax a bit, and then just peel it off.

I like to live dangerously…

+1. I drill through, pull cork up about half way, usually use my finger around the bottle to remove lose wax, finish removing cork. No muss, no fuss.

I make a cut around the top like you would with a foil capsule (basically just score it so it will be more likely to crack here) and then ram the corkscrew thru and pull the cork. We just did a 10 bottle Raveneau vertical (clos) and the host spent 1/2 hour wrapping the bottles and hammering the wax to chip it off… I’d much rather damn the torpedos and get it over with.

Use a better corkscrew

Rub your hand briskly back and forth over the top of the wax. The friction is sufficient to soften the wax enough to cut it or extract the cork through it. Even that hard yellow stuff that Raveneau uses. Hat-tip to Manfred Krankl for first mentioning it.

saber the bottle.
alan

Beautiful.
Best, Jim

Nice party trick at your next bris!

Bruce