Screw top wine bottles

On my way home from work last Saturday I bought a bottle of wine to have with my next meal. There is no word, I know of, for a meal that combines a very late lunch and an early dinner. That is what I had – a very late lunch or an early dinner or a combination of the two.

As I began to assemble the food I craved a glass of red. I grabbed the bottle by the neck and twisted. Nothing happened! I studied the top. A cork! It’s a long time since I saw one of those. I felt a surge of pleasure. I’ve missed that unmistakable pop of a cork being withdrawn from a wine bottle.

I searched the top kitchen drawer for my old and trusty cork screw. No luck. I went through the second drawer. It wasn’t there either. The third drawer down is full of odds and ends and it gave up an ancient bottle opener I hadn’t used or seen in years. It is a fearsome object with handles and arms and screws. I went through the drawers again. Old and trusty was missing. My desire to drink a glass of red increased in proportion to the problem of removing the cork. I struggled with the fearsome object I had found and while I struggled I remember why it had been chucked in the bottom drawer.

The cork did eventually come out but in pieces and the pop was very subdued. I got to thinking about the new screw top bottles and how long it will be until none of us are able to pull a cork. I’m off to buy a new cork screw just incase I come across another cork but it wouldn’t surprise me if I had difficulty finding one. The new feature of wine drinking is grab and twist. So easy.

The wine was pretty ordinary when I finally got to it. Was that to do with the cork? It was a Kingston Estate Merlot bottled in 2006 and on special at out local bottle store. You may like it but it tasted sour to me and not worth the struggle.