A passionate advocate

This past week we had the pleasure of spending some time with Dan Karlsen, head winemaker - or as he likes to call himself, "wine producer" - for Talbott Vineyards, located near Monterey California. Dan refers to himself as the "producer," as he more firmly believes that the winemaker is the Talbott vineyards. He sees himself as just the guiding force for the fermentation, ageing and bottling of the wines once the vines themselves make the wine.

The afternoon we spent with Dan at the winery looking out over the 600 acres that are the Talbott Sleepy Hollow Vineyard was fascinating and educational. I learned enough and garnered enough information for a month of articles. We will come to that. Perhaps Dan's most passionate advocacy is saved for the subject of Stelvin (or twist cap) closure versus the more traditional cork, or as Dan calls it, "tree bark crammed into the end of the bottle."

At the winery there is a photo of a basket full of twist caps, similar to the winery photo we have all seen of a basket full of corks. Every bottle produced at Talbott - save for the large formats - is sealed with twist cap, and when Dan convinced owner Robb Talbott to make the switch to Stelvin, they started first with the more expensive bottlings.

Talbott produces only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The two varietals are their talent, their passion and are well suited to their vineyard terroir in the Santa Lucia Highlands and Monterey. The Talbott wines run from just over $20 per bottle to north of $70. We have long been fans of the wines and consider them well priced for the quality up and down the line.

Starting the conversion to twist cap at the higher price points seems counterintuitive. While listening to Dan make his case for the synthetic closure, we could imagine listening to another winemaker making the exact opposite case against "twisties." Dan admits this, but remains undaunted in his push to rid the wine world of cork. He also admits the mass conversion of the industry is unrealistic, but this is not mere "tilting at windmills."

Industry statistics vary, but the low end failure rate on cork is five percent, while the high end estimates reach 20 percent, which includes failure due to cork taint or the presence of TCA and the drying of corks that causes leakage. Dan frequently sites the 20 percent failure rate in his compelling arguments. His favorite analogy is that if Boeing had a failure rate of 20 percent, or even 10 percent, the end of runways would be littered with planes and lawyers would be very busy.

His case for starting with the more expensive Talbott bottles to convert to Stelvin is well thought out. If you have 20 percent failure rate, and therefore, loss rate, would you rather lose 20 percent of your less expensive product or 20 percent of your more expensive product? Listening to Dan we found the arguments compelling, and we have found no negative effects on the taste, quality or age worthiness of Talbott wines since Dan started the change. While the ambiance of pulling the cork has its merits in any discussion of the subject, the convenience has just as much merit for us.

We also discussed with Dan the issue of leaky twist caps, the most common concern. We brought it up as we recently have experienced a spate of leaking twist caps from other producers. Dan has addressed this as well. Most bottling lines place one drop of liquid nitrogen at the end of the fill before the cap goes on. The liquid version of nitrogen expands very quickly and releases a lot of pressure, causing the sealing capsule in the twist cap to fail.

To mitigate this issue, Talbott uses the original gas version of nitrogen they manufacture themselves. This more tightly manages the pressure during bottling, keeping the all important capsule intact. Talbott in fact designed their bottling line with Dan's guidance, and the use of non-liquid nitrogen was Dan's idea.

The discussion over cork versus twist cap is nowhere near settled. For every passionate advocate like Dan, you will likely find an equally passionate detractor of Stelvin. That is OK; it is what keeps the wine industry innovative and thriving. But after listening to Dan and finding most of his reasoning compelling, we feel you will continue to see more wines with a twist cap closure. We approve.

If there is a topic you would like to read about, or if you have questions on wine, you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com, or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner (with his wife Mary Lancaster) of the dinner party, a wine and tabletop decor shop by Costco in Coeur d'Alene. George has also worked as a judge in many wine competitions, and his articles are published around the country. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. You can get all of these articles and other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.