Those Damn Wax Capsules....

[Jeremy_Holmes]

I tried the heat method today and now my right hand is coated with yellow wax. Me thinks I need to work on the technique.

[Mike_de_Lange]

Here’s another horror story. Last Friday I opened the first of my magnums of Billaud-Simon Tète d’Or 2004, which also had a wax capsule. It was so thick and hard that I had to get a hammer and chisel to get through. The corkscrew wouldn’t even chip it! The wine was fine and young-ish; a bottle I poured over didn’t get going until two days later.

[paul_hanna]

@Jeremy Holmes

I tried the heat method today and now my right hand is coated with yellow wax. Me thinks I need to work on the technique.

Hmmm.

A new commercial device needs to be made I think.

[David_Glasser]

@Bill Gibbs

I use an Ah-Soo right thru the wax, and then to clean the lip. Easy enough.

Hmm, having trouble visualizing how this would work with an Ah-So with any but the softest wax.

[K_John_Joseph]

@Ron Kramer

@Peter Simpson

@M.Kaplan

Rub your hand briskly back and forth over the top …the friction is sufficient to soften…

Doesn’t work for me.

Get a Hustler for inspiration, and then work the hand faster and harder across the wax capsule.

[Michae1_P0wers]

Someone has indicated that the wax would help to limit loss due to evaporation, but if that was true it would also limit oxygen ingress and inhibit aging. I have no real experience with this, but I understand it to not be the case. Clearly, beyond decoration, this would be the only “real” purpose, to create a better seal. So is there any truth to this at all?

[Ron_Kramer]

@paul hanna

@Jeremy Holmes

I tried the heat method today and now my right hand is coated with yellow wax. Me thinks I need to work on the technique.

Hmmm.

A new commercial device needs to be made I think.

It exists. I have used a jar opener I have. It has ‘sized’ crescents and I align the smaller of them to the tip of the bottle and squeeze, viola’.

[Bill_Gibbs]

@David Glasser

@Bill Gibbs

I use an Ah-Soo right thru the wax, and then to clean the lip. Easy enough.

Hmm, having trouble visualizing how this would work with an Ah-So with any but the softest wax.

You have me there. Most of my waxed bottles are from wineries in Paso (one winery in Ventura) and are almost soft plastic-like in their consistency. I’ve had hard wax on a few old ports.

[ToddFrench]

Man up and just put the corkscrew through the wax, and pull.

[Randy_Bowman]

@Mike de Lange

Here’s another horror story. Last Friday I opened the first of my magnums of Billaud-Simon Tète d’Or 2004, which also had a wax capsule. It was so thick and hard that I had to get a hammer and chisel to get through. The corkscrew wouldn’t even chip it! The wine was fine and young-ish; a bottle I poured over didn’t get going until two days later.

I think I remember using a hammer and chisel to remove the wax on a bottle about 20 years ago. I also think it was the 3rd or 4th bottle we opened that night. Neither of us can confirm this is factual but we both remember the hammer and chisel routine.

[Warren_Taranow]

Add me to the list of wax haters.
Have you ever tried to smell a bottle of Foillard once the cork is out? That wax stinks like some poisonous chemical. I’d hate to see any chipped into my glass.

[Thierry_Jutel]

I went to Fourrier in June and we tasted through 9 2010 wines from bottle. The bottles were all lined up when we came in. I did wonder what he was going to do with the wax (which the domaine uses on all bottles). He just plunged his corkscrew through the wax and extracted the cork back up. Took out any pieces of wax that obstructed the top of the bottle and served the wine. See bottles on the floor with the corks back on. If it’s good enough for Monsieur Fourrier, I thought.

[ToddFrench]

@Thierry Jutel

I went to Fourrier in June and we tasted through 9 2010 wines from bottle. The bottles were all lined up when we came in. I did wonder what he was going to do with the wax (which the domaine uses on all bottles). He just plunged his corkscrew through the wax and extracted the cork back up. Took out any pieces of wax that obstructed the top of the bottle and served the wine. See bottles on the floor with the corks back on. If it’s good enough for Monsieur Fourrier, I thought.

Exactly.

[Brian_Tuite]

@Todd F r e n c h

@Thierry Jutel

I went to Fourrier in June and we tasted through 9 2010 wines from bottle. The bottles were all lined up when we came in. I did wonder what he was going to do with the wax (which the domaine uses on all bottles). He just plunged his corkscrew through the wax and extracted the cork back up. Took out any pieces of wax that obstructed the top of the bottle and served the wine. See bottles on the floor with the corks back on. If it’s good enough for Monsieur Fourrier, I thought.

Exactly.

Problem is we have too many rocket scientists here

[mmarcellus]

Man up and just put the corkscrew through the wax, and pull.

That has been my strategy when a wax capsule is completely unyielding to other means. Today was a first. I put the corkscrew through the capsule and pulled. The corkscrew broke. It was another half hour of chiseling away wax and then carefully inserting another corkscrew beside the broken one before I could finally get the cork out.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

I used to just drill through the wax and pull the cork before I had a little run in with a Sineann bottle. Sineann always waxed their bottles with a wax you couldn’t cut off or melt off. In the middle of a pinot production, Sineann switched to a glass enclosure, covered with a twist off tin cover and then put their signature impregnable wax on top of that. I spent 15 minutes trying to get the cork screw into the cork. And before you ask, no, it wasn’t the first bottle of the night.

Ever who conceived of that idea must have been high on spray paint. And, apparently, zero oversight over that person, too …

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

When visiting with Randy Dunn and his daughter Kristina I noticed that she had an unusual way to deal with the wax. She held the bottles by the base and then slammed the neck into something firm, but with some give. In this example, she used a thick, plastic tub (like a busboy would carry). A few whacks and most of the wax around the cork and lip was long gone.

And yet they continue waxing the bottles? What makes them think their customers actually want this?

[Paul_Miller]

Ha! Just had this experience tonight. Drilled straight into it. No probs. But then wouldn’t budge. Had to peel off the wax before the cork would budge.

[lleichtman]

When visiting with Randy Dunn and his daughter Kristina I noticed that she had an unusual way to deal with the wax. She held the bottles by the base and then slammed the neck into something firm, but with some give. In this example, she used a thick, plastic tub (like a busboy would carry). A few whacks and most of the wax around the cork and lip was long gone.

And yet they continue waxing the bottles? What makes them think their customers actually want this?

Yes, I totally agree. I hate them. Several Chardonnay producers use them. I have written them to ask them why. Never get an answer that makes any sense. My favorite Oregon Pinot producer uses them and I have literally begged him to stop. No luck.

[Michael_Sterling]

Just saying, we considered waxing our bottles when we first started but I read enough hatred for wax here that we quickly reconsidered. Happy with the decision in retrospect