Where do YOU cut the foil?

[Chris_Seiber]

I have this guy on staff at my house to cut all of them for me.

[John_Morris]

@David Wright

Under the lip/collar. Back in the day, the capsule was made of lead foil. You cut it under the collar to avoid having the wine inadvertantly contact lead while while pouring.

I was thinking about the lead capsule days, too.

FYI, the FDA did research and found that, if you didn’t wipe the top of the bottle, the first few glasses poured had significant lead levels. It was on the lip of the bottle. That’s what led to the rule banning lead capsules.

[Oliver_McCrum]

Under the band of glass around the neck. Only a savage would cut it above the band of glass.

[Frank_Murray_III]

@Andrew L.

Usually, I try to pull the whole thing off.

If I can’t just pull it off, I slice it right down the entire side and peel it off.

^ This, always. BTW, I appreciate Copain and Wind Gap for eliminating the foils on their bottles.

[Dennis_Kanagie]

@Frank Murray III

BTW, I appreciate Copain and Wind Gap for eliminating the foils on their bottles.

Bedrock too.

[Robert.A.Jr]

I prefer wax! J/k.

Slip it off or cut “not here”.

[David_Glasser]

Root day or flower day?

[Mark_C]

@ybarselah

relevant Seinfeld clip.

Seinfeld and Friends - The Mohel - YouTube

relevant punchline.

“But if you rub it, it turns into a suitcase!”

[Len_Schultz]

Above the lip, if I can’t pull it off

[Matt_Neel]

@Anton D

I try to pull it off as gently as possible so that I can replace it after I refill the bottle for future auction sale.

OMG I actually spit a little on my screen this made me LOL so hard…

That said, below the lip. Cleaner, safer, faster, and easier to keep the bottle still while doing it so as to disturb any sediments as little as possible.

[Jletchinger]

@MBerto

@Jletchinger

Below the lip is “proper” and you can get the cleanest line that way. For home consumption, just pull it off.

Citation? Or is this based upon the historical lead content as someone else noted?

Nowhere is this documented. It’s very much stylistic choice. However, it is written for members of CMS or WSET into Master of Wine that you cut below the lip. If you ever go to a wine event with french winemakers, they all cut above the lip.

[AlexS]

I just use this:

Much like the Durand and a high quality Screwpull, I can’t imagine life without one.

[GregT]

Well, according to Jacques Pepin and most French somms I’ve talked to, you cut it below the lip and it’s considered tacky and even rude to slice it and pull the whole thing off.

I never understood why.

Pulling off the entire capsule is the easiest solution when pouring a lot of wine, or even when not pouring a lot of wine, but if someone working in a high end restaurant does that, he’d get at least a good talking to, if not a reprimand.

The little cutters like the pic above cut around the top because it’s a lot easier to engineer the tool that way, but it’s not the “correct” way. I’m not 100 percent certain as to the why - I think they didn’t want to have drips left in the little rim but I don’t know that anybody was particularly worried about lead poisoning, I think it was just an aesthetic thing more than anything else - especially as they were still laying lead pipe in new houses in the early 1900s.

No idea what people are being taught in somm school these days. Problem is, once I found out that there was a “correct” way to do it years ago, I’m anal about it now, even though I know it makes virtually no difference.

[IlkkaL]

Above the lip. One argument for not taking the whole thing off is that there is sometimes the lot code on the foil. If the bottle turns out to be a faulty one stores usually appreciate having the lot information. Of course if one never returns faulty bottles then it is a non-issue.

[M_Sai]

I use the sharp end of the worm to slice up the side of the capsule (from the bottom) so I can remove the entire thing. Then I take a look at the cork through the glass to make sure the cork doesn’t look saturated. If it is, out comes the Drand.

What is “correct” as dictated by a Somm is a full LOL for me.

[Nowell_Karten]

When cutting off just the top of the capsule, there’s legitimate logic for cutting below the lower lip: to prevent the wine from dripping behind the foil and contaminating future pours.

[Markus_S]

Let 'er R-I-PPPPPPP!!

[Karring_Moan]

@MBerto

@Jletchinger

Below the lip is “proper” and you can get the cleanest line that way. For home consumption, just pull it off.

Citation? Or is this based upon the historical lead content as someone else noted?

There is also a sediment issue. Foils weren’t as tightly applied to the bottle in the day and dust and dirt would get up under it. The lip would also prevent sediment from ‘pouring’ into the wine. At least I read that in some vintage bar tending manual at some point. I’ll try to find it.

k.

Edit: Here is that page from Harry Johnson’s Bartenders’ Manual first published in 1882 and revised in 1900.

[Jason_T]

@GregT

Problem is, once I found out that there was a “correct” way to do it years ago, I’m anal about it now, even though I know it makes virtually no difference.

+1. My anal-retentiveness knows no bounds.

[Brian_Curtis]

I used to be very anal about cutting off the foil. But I was a savage about it and always cut it at the top, the Not Here spot. I would use the edge of an Ah-So blade or a foil cutter as illustrated above. But I no longer believe in capsules so I rip them off unceremoniously and curse under my breath as a sort of protest and I have divested myself of my foil cutters. Now I have a bit less clutter.