Wine closures, bottles and interesting wine historical facts.
I began this article by studying the origin of wine- which may have been in Mesopotamia.. There is evidence of wine from 5400 BC. As I researched writings for this article I went far afield discovering interesting historical facts. A full discussion of the origin of wine would take an entire volume at least. –“Too long”, says my editor, so we will look at bottles, closures and a few wine facts..
Wine storage and bottles has an interesting progression. Early bulk wine storage during the First Dynasty of Egypt (from 3100 BC to 2890 BC) was in large pottery vessels called amphorae with pouring spouts. Closure of the vessels was accomplished by stoppers of cloth, leather, cork or fired clay- all sealed with mortar. A small CO2 release hole was left open – later to be sealed after fermentation. Early Amphorae even had markings with production information, including year, maker and vineyard source - indicating an organized wine production.
As civilization progressed the Romans developed glass blowing and glass bottles became favored for wine storage. The wine was usually visible. However, since glass blown bottles varied in size there was no easy way to determine the quantity of wine contained in each bottle. This was such a perplexing situation that it became illegal to sell wine in a glass bottle. This was unacceptable and merchants eventually began selling wine in measured amounts to customers who provided their own bottles. Bottles were continued to be made in different shapes until the demand for flatter bottles that could be laid down on their side for aging. The bottles began to hold 500 to 800 ml and eventually gravitated towards 750 ml.
The different wine regions selected bottles that were ideal for their wines.
In 1979, when there was a desire to adopt metric measurement , the US standardized the volume of wine in a bottle at 750ml. The European Union also asked winemakers to adopt one standard size bottle. The US mandated 750ml was chosen to make it easier to import and sell wine in the US. The 750ml size is now the usual size for wine world-wide.
Early wine closures included wood and rags and eventually corks. Corks have unique properties for use as a wine closure. A cork is light, impermeable to liquid, wear resistant and has incredible compressibility. Corks natural cell structure is impossible to replicate. A cork is formed of a honeycomb of tiny cells made from suberin, a complex fatty acid and filled with an air like gas. There are approximately 800 million cells in an average cork. The cork is the only solid that can be compressed to about half its width without losing any flexibility or increasing in size in another direction. A cork also has what is called “elastic memory”. This means that when compressed a cork constantly wants to return to its original size. The cork exerts an even pressure against the surface of the bottle neck. There have been many closures developed to replace cork which has sometimes tainted wine with an desirable tastes and odors called “Cork Taint.” As an example think of a wet dog in a phone booth or old wet cardboard. There are estimates that 5% of wine is ruined at the winery because of cork taint. One of the reasons for the formal tasting of a new bottle opened at the table is to detect the cork taint. Not by smelling the cork but by sniffing the wine.
Great effort has gone into the development of an alternative closure. Many wine makers I have talked to like screw top closure.
In our consumptive society wine is not held long before drinking. American wines are often ready to drink when purchased. Some wines need additional bottle storage before opening. In our mind there is a perception that a wine served from a screw cap bottle is an inferior wine like a jug wine.
Most alternative closure methods that completely block oxygen from entering the bottle haven’t been tested on long aging wines. It isn’t known if the loss of the tiny amount of air that enters a bottle thru a cork over time has an adverse effect on long term aging. I am unsure. There is a loss of flair in opening a world class wine with a twist off cap. Wine makers who are making these world class wines have the most to gain from closures that would keep the wine vibrant and untainted.
Wine making in the United States would be the world’s best were it not for several set-backs. The most important being Prohibition – a thirteen year period that essentially decimated the US wine industry.
The Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act made it illegal to manufacture, sell or transport all beverages containing alcohol. The unintended consequences of Abolitionists movement was to increase the number of saloons, to introduce the imposition of Income Tax ( to make up for lost revenue from sale of alcohol) to begin organized crime, to change drinking habits from enjoying fine wine with meals to glugging cheap liquor. The wine industry was devastated. Only 20 percent of California Wineries survived. The country that was just beginning to savor wine with meals were funneled to speakeasy’s. Saloons in New York City were illegal but doubled in number during prohibition. Most vintners were caught unaware of the consequences of the alcohol ban. They couldn’t believe it applied to wine and their industry was going to be destroyed.
Eager enforcement resulted in the destruction of barrels of aging wine and root stocks and mature vines just reaching their best production were plowed under. The 1920 wine crop was not harvested.
There were over 700 wineries in California at the outset of Prohibition. When finally repealed only 140 Wineries remained. It took 70 years for California to again have as many wineries as it had when Prohibition began. The wineries that remained were essentially destitute having survived by making sacramental wine, medicinal wine tonics and kits for home wine makers. The Volstead Act permitted citizens to make up to 200 gallons of non-intoxicating cider and fruit juices a year. However, the Act never defined the term “non-intoxicating.” Home wine makers could purchase grapes and grape concentrates. One company sold compressed grapes in brick shapes with a warning label that advised: “WARNING: Do not place this brick in a one gallon crock, add sugar and water, cover, and let stand for seven days or else an illegal alcoholic beverage will result.”
The vestiges of Prohibition still survive in some of the laws involving sale of wine. When we opened Elizabeth’s 21 years ago our sign could not feature the term “Wine” (however, the corporate name could be used) hence our name “Elizabeth’s Café & Winery” Is on our sign although we don’t now and have never made wine. It just indicates we are a recognized wine related restaurant- offering nightly wine dinners.
The Wine Guy, Leonard Logan, a wine judge and lecturer is the proprietor of Elizabeth’s Café in Duck. His blog, The Wine Guy, is available at Elizabethcafe.com send questions and comments to elizcafe@charter.net.