Last Rites

An old tradition in the British Royal Navy, explained tastefully in an excellent movie “Master Commander, The Far Side Of The World”, regarding last rites when committing comrades to the deep, concerned the sewing of the shroud.

Dead sailor’s bodies (Or what was left of them) were sewn up in their hammocks with a cannon ball (Both convenient and available) before being covered with a flag and dropped over the side of the ship. (The flag remained attached to the ship).

Just in case the comrade might not actually have expired, the sail makers mate would put the last stitch though the nose as a last minute check. This also helped save the rough sewing from unraveling during combat, or in heavy weather.

Even though modern medicine and technology makes this grisly procedure unnecessary, I propose that serious wine collectors be carefully checked prior to final internment. Extracting the absolutely best wine from their cellar, the bottles should be opened and poured upon their remains following careful filtering in the traditional manner. Should this procedure fail to arouse the deceased, the process should be continued for as long a possible, just to be certain.

© Paul Wyatt™ 2007.

Screw Cap Sales Pitch?

“Wine is expected to age at least as long and as well under a screw-cap as it will under natural cork.”
(Paul Gregutt)

EXPECTED TO AGE, NOT WILL...

"It seems to me that it’s time to agree that screw-caps can do the job. Not everyone will like their look and feel (improving rapidly, by the way), but you must agree that these closures have a lot of advantages, the manufacturers are working hard to correct some of the early problems associated with them”.
(Paul Gregutt)

What problems?

Why do we have to agree at all, but especially when there are no long-term studies yet? (Short-term studies have projected a 2% failure rate for screw caps)

What advantages do these closures have? They are possibly cheaper, Easier to use in high speed bottling machines, easier to open…. You said a lot of advantages?

How do we know that we are buying an old style screw cap with problems, or one of the “new and improved” screw caps that have not had long term tests either?

© Paul Wyatt™ 2007