There has been a lot of activity in the past few years devoted to attempts to come up with a better closure for wine bottles. There are a lot of complaints about TCA taint, and anyone with old wine has seen a dry cork drop into the bottle after disintegrating. People rightly wonder why now, in the 21st century, we can't find something better to seal bottles with than tree bark.
Here in Calfornia we has seen some experiments with synthetic corks, and in New Zealand and Australia there has been a lot of progress made with screwcaps (Stelvin). However, I had never seen fine wine in a bottle closed with a crown cap until I opened a bottle of this 2003-vintage reisling.
As you can see, the crown cap has been hidden under a squared-off plastic cap that makes it look like it a normal cork closure. But as you remove the foil (which is plastic), the truth becomes clear (so to speak).
Regardless, of how long this wine is expected to last, or who it is supposed or not supposed to impress, it is a very ripe yet refreshing riesling with only 9.5% alcohol, good acidity and nice citrusy grapefruit flavors. It appears to have a bit of residual sugar on the finish. It is a great quaffer to go with spicy food.
2003 Peter Jacob Kuhn Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Kabinett (Germany, Rheingau) (87 pts)
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