By TOM MARQUARDT and PATRICK DARR
We suspect that many of you forgot to bring along a corkscrew once or twice. Perhaps it was to a tailgate party, a picnic or a day at the beach. You’re mad and so are your friends who stare longingly at a bottle of chilled rosé. You look around for an alternative device or a stranger who may not have been as forgetful. Sometimes you’re saved; other times, you’re not.
The possibility of forgetting a corkscrew has compelled us to keep one in the car, beach bag, cooler and even luggage. Alas, we have given up many of them to airport security, but losing a cheap corkscrew is better than denying friends of wine.
The Wine Enthusiast recently published a story of several ingenious ways to remove a cork from a bottle. Many required access to tools – that’s usually not the case on a beach or in a boat. A screwdriver can be plunged into a cork and you can chip out a real cork with any sharp device. You could drive a screw into a cork, then lift it out with a hammer claw if you’re a carpenter who carries tools in his truck.
Probably the safest alternative is to push the cork into the bottle with a key or whatever is lying around. We have seen a beach-goer pounding the bottom of a bottle with his sandal until he was out of breath (it was working but Tom offered him a corkscrew before he fainted). Tom was once at a restaurant in the Caribbean where a server pounded the bottom of a sparkling wine bottle to get the cork to emerge. Although entertaining, it seemed to be the dumbest thing to do when the pressure is twice as much as a car tire.
We have used knives – even a World War II bayonet – to open champagne after seeing the French do it as some sort of ritual. You slide the blade sharply over the seam and past the cork. It worked, but it is much safer to just remove the foil and edge the cork to the side.
If you’re on a bicycle trip and stopping for some wine amid the vineyards, you can also use a tire pump to pluck out a cork if you forgot the traditional device.
Substituting glasses or plastic cups is more difficult. Not long ago we took a nice rosé bottle on the boat with some friends. After we pulled onto a beach and started to pull out the appetizers, we realized we had forgotten the glasses. We cut down the plastic water bottles and, voila, glasses (albeit with sharp edges).
MacGyver would be proud. Ingenious people with a will can find a way.
Small producers
A recent report from Wine Business Monthly showed that 83 percent of the 11,601 wineries in the United States produce less than 5,000 cases of wine. Most of the wine is produced by large companies, including Gallo, The Wine Group, Delicato Family Wines, Trinchero Family Estates and Constellation Brands.
The significance of this is that some of the best wines made by small producers aren’t easy to find because their production is too small for wholesalers to handle. The small producers – some making only 1,000 cases annually – sell their wines through their tasting rooms and wine clubs.
With more than 11,000 wineries – most of them on the West Coast – it is nearly impossible to try them all. But we continue to offer special wines that can be purchased only online. Many of them are worth the investment and the shipping costs.
Wine picks
Tenuta Frescobaldi Castiglioni Toscana IGT 2018 ($26). This was a recent crowd favorite at a party. A blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and the local Sangiovese, it bursts with blackberry flavors with layers of licorice, cloves and black pepper.
Binomio Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riserva DOC 2019 ($52). A partnership of Inama and La Valentina, this beautifully textured wine uses an unusual clone of montepulciano to achieve a rustic quality and concentrated red grape flavors.
J.Lohr Flume Crossing Sauvignon Blanc 2023 ($14). This is one of the most pleasurable and different sauvignon blancs we have tasted in a long time. Aged 30 percent in neutral acacia barrels, it offers a less acidic and tart personality than many of its competitors – it certainly isn’t for those who love their New Zealand sauvignon blancs. Classic grapefruit and citrus notes, but there is also a dash of spice and a load of palate richness.
Bracaia Il Tre 2021 ($25). There is nothing complicated in this Tuscany blend of sangiovese, merlot and cabernet sauvignon – but, oh, what a pleasurable quaff to sip or share with a burger or slice of pizza. Lots of red fruit and mulberry flavors.
Republished with permission
Tom Marquardt and Patrick Darr have been writing a weekly wine column for more than 30 years. Additional Wine reviews on MoreAboutWine
All photos are randomly selected and do not indicate any preferred wine. Listed prices are subject to change and do not include tax or shipping.
You can send questions to Tom Marquardt marq1948@gmail.com
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