The thread about a capsule supplier got me thinking about this, and rather than drift the thread further without getting a whole lot of notice, I thought I’d post the question separately. Here’s my take:
I love bottles that don’t have capsules. How did these things come to be standard equipment, anyway? I imagine there was a time when they served a utilitarian purpose, but now that they’re just cosmetic, I don’t know why almost everyone bothers to use them. I’d be intersted to know why, though. Those of you who do use them, what is your reasoning? Is there anecdotal or statistical evidence that bottles with capsules sell better? Is it so that your packaging looks similar to what is considered standard? If so, have you thought that it might be beneficial to stand out with slightly different packaging? I agree with what was said in the other thread that nicely branded corks stand out nicely on their own in the absence of a capsule. I guess it can add a lot of color to the package, which might be pretty significant, so I’m not ruling out the notion that they could be quite useful aesthetically. Either way, I’m not trying to knock anyone who uses them (most of my favorite producers do), but I think the question is worth examining.
It’s all about tradition and perception of value. People want the whole traditional ceremony of cutting the capsule and pulling the cork when opening a bottle. It’s also completes the package design.
Think of the wines without capsules… they are usually very inexpensive supermarket brands. If you go capsuleless I think you risk the association that the wine is cheap.
Off top pf my head Bond, Harlan, Bedrock all do not use capsules. Just a long cork.
I doubt anyone thinks of Harlan as a “cheap wine” or Bedrock as inferior quality.
side for no capsule
Makes it easy to inspect and I can spot them easily in my 2 deep racking/cellaring.
Less hassle opening, less garbage, waste from pckg’ing
Why a capsule:
Capsules might have been used to protect the corks from dirt, insects or maybe vermin from nibbling on them, but I think they are mostly part of the packaging. Mostly to dress up the wine.
In some cases it is easier to ID the bottle if the capsule is distinctive when stuck in a rack/cellar.
I say dump the capsule! With my new winery I plan on leaving them in the dust. But I’m in Montana so I don’t think our wines will ever be seen as “traditional” so why not go for new and different. Plus it saves on labour and packaging costs that will be better spent on good corks with branded ends. If it’s done right a bottle with out a capsule can look elegant. Just my two cents.
Casey
Me, too, but anyone who posts here regularly is far from the average consumer, so it’s interesting to get a feel for the thought processes behind their use at the production end.
Thanks for the responses so far. I’ll be interested to see what else people think about my question.
I asked this in Burgundy or the Rhone a while back. Way back in the day it was to keep mice/rats from eating up the corks in the caves. I guess the old lead ones were doubly effective.
That was pretty much my thought as well. I don’t think I saved much because went to a longer cork when I skipped the capsules. I also changed to a big neck burg bottle because I thought the skinnier neck version looked odd without the capsule.
I don’t use capsules as I find it ethically troubling to have a part of my packaging that is solely an affectation. I have never had any consumer or trade push back. The only push back was from the French Douanes wondering where I planned to put the tax disc!
I did a fair amount of research on the origin of capsules. The mice story seems recent, as in the last 50 years. The best explanation I found was that when the butler’s corkscrew was invented it created a big problem. Your butler could remove the cork and replace your fine wine with inferior wine, then replace the cork. Producers began to add the foil to prevent butlers from pulling this trick.
I have one friend with a butler and I told him I’d put capsules on his wine if he was worried about it. Everyone else gets no capsules.
we’ve done wax caps since the beginning. a little extra work on the bottling line (they’re held on with a dollop of glue) and give the bottled wine a finished look. easy to remove with the tip of the corkscrew, or just push it all the way through and it comes off with the cork.
I’ve been told the long capsules on sparklers are due to the fact that after disgorgement, there may be varying levels of wine in the bottle and they use the long capsules to cover it up. This wouldn’t seem to apply to still wine though, as I’ve never seen a capsule that covered up the fill level.
