August 29, 2008

Handyman Needed


A brief follow up to yesterday's post:

If anyone wants to argue against the Bollinger, La Côte aux Enfants, as a novelty wine, they're gonna have to start by explaining the closure (see photo at right).

This is the only wine I've ever opened with a pair of needle-nose pliers and a screwdriver.

2 comments:

David McDuff said...

I'll leave it up to Mr. Liem to fill in the gaps, but this looks like the type of closure used by those Champagne producers who choose cork rather than bottle caps for the pre-disgorgement aging regimen of their bubblies. The cork is held in place by what basically amounts to a big staple. And the tool used to remove it/disgorge is indeed not unlike a pair of pliers.

The presumed logic behind its use: why bother investing in regular corks and different corking equipment if you already have other materials and equipment in place? Novelty, no. Unusual, yes.

Director, Lab Outreach said...

Synonyms for novelty from thesaurus.com: bauble, bibelot, gewgaw, gimcrack, knickknack, toy, trifle, trinket, whatnot.

I'd like to think the big staple is a gewgaw and possibly a bibelot. And also unusual...