Removing A Wax Capsule

Normally I just put the corkscrew strait through the wax and pull, but I’m contributing a Dunn Howell Mountain to a blind tasting (wines will be poured from the bottle, covered by a bag), and I’d like to completely remove the wax capsule to help our efforts to keep the tasting blind.

Are there any tried and true methods of completely removing wax on the neck of the bottles??

Wax is nothing but one big pain in the ass! Pax is one of my biggest offenders, drives me crazy. What I will do is just take my serrated blade on the corkscrew and cut like I am taking the foil off. Once a good cut is made, then I peel or chip the top of the wax off.

Run it under some >warm but not too hot water. It becomes pliable and you can cut the whole thing off as one piece rather than in little chunks.

Thanks Nate! I plan to decant the wine a couple hours beforehand, so I’ll run warm water over it when I have an empty bottle.

I just use a foil cutter to chip off the top of the wax, wipe the top clean, and use a corkscrew in the usual manner,

I HATE wax. Looks nice and all that, but spare me.

My tasting room partner uses wax, and I had to get instructions from him on opening his bottles since I occasionally pour his wines for him.

If I insert the corkscrew in through the cork and then pull, the top of the wax will come off as the cork comes out. Then I just use the blade on the corkscrew to clean up the top a bit.

Not sure if this works for all waxed bottles, but it works well with his hand-dipped, albeit with a bit more effort on the pull than a non-waxed bottle. [blackeye.gif]

I just cut a vertical line through the wax and peel it off. More often than not it comes off in one piece, almost like a foil.

I’m sitting here staring at a RM Summa Old Vines mag which has a wax capsule, fighting the temptation to give you all a tutorial.

I think Mike wants to get all the wax off the neck so as not to give away the producer while brown-bagged.

At least that’s how I read it.

If you soften it up, it should all come off easily. Otherwise, all the scrape marks on the neck will give it away as easily as the residual wax would.

I know he was – if you start at the base of the wax and cut straight up the neck, you should be able to peel the entire capsule off in one piece.

Dunn wax SUCKS. It will only crumble. You will not be able to remove it all without driving yourself nuts. Just drive the corkscrew right through it and hope for the best.

Rotating the bottle over a candle will also help to loosen the Dunn wax but it’s a nightmare for the sediment.

I know he was – if you start at the base of the wax and cut straight up the neck, you should be able to peel the entire capsule off in one piece.

William - I was responding to Jacki, not you. Should have used the quote function.

Dunn wax SUCKS. It will only crumble. You will not be able to remove it all without driving yourself nuts. Just drive the corkscrew right through it and hope for the best.

This has been my experience with most wax capsules. Hate the stuff.

You got it Nate. My only other worry is the wax leaving some kind of residue after it’s removed - which would be another give-away. If the hot water trick doesn’t work, I may try the candle approach, after the wine has been decanted of course.

Yeah, doh. [imnewhere.gif]

(Note to self: Read the beginning of the thread before replying…)

yank the cork in your usual fashion and double decant The Dunn into some other clean, dry bottle.

serious DB tasting sometimes takes place out of unlabled, identical bottles sans paper bags and each wine has been treated as i describe above.

Get most of the wax off then slide the capsule of ANOTHER (preferably very recognizable) winery on to the bottle then cut the top off of that. That way the folks looking for “inside info” get punished.

Get most of the wax off then slide the capsule of ANOTHER (preferably very recognizable) winery on to the bottle then cut the top off of that. That way the folks looking for “inside info” get punished.

I like it, Roberto. Cat and mouse.

Yeah Mike, do what he said

Some wax is actually plastic…most waxed bottles these days are plastic (Pax and Brewer Clifton for example). The ‘old school’ style, which I think Dunn uses, is to mix wax/paraffin with a bit of shellac. The Shellac makes it nice and durable…wax alone would get scuffed up. But the shellac makes it nearly impossible to remove entirely (I believe). I think Roberto’s idea is excellent!