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Screwcap wines akin to alcopops'

Published:  23 July, 2008

Philosopher, writer and composer Roger Scruton has heavily criticised screwcapped wines, claiming they reduce wine to an alcopop'.

In his latest New Statesman column, Scruton said he believes that the wine-drinking ritual should contain an elaborate process of preparation' that has much in common with the ablutions that preceded ancient religious sacrifices'. He even admits that a corked wine rate of 5% is essential to the ritual'.

He writes: The screwtop deforms the bottle with metallic shards. It encourages the quick fix, the hasty glug, the purely self-centred grab for a slug of alcohol. It reduces wine to an alcopop and shapes it accordingly to the needs of the drunkard.'

Harpers columnist and vociferous screwcap proponent Malcolm Gluck said: It's utterly ludicrous, this idea that part of the charm is chance. The use of a screwcap shows that the winemaker cares about the condition in which the wines will be served. Screwcaps empower the drinker of the wine, whereas cork only empowers the cork manufacturer and the producer.

The only argument Scruton has got is the sentimental one.I guess he'd prefer all motor cars to have starter handles and leaking gaskets - that's the romance of motoring, after all.

And I suppose some people like inserting a proto-phallic thing into a bottle and pulling it out again with the bottle between their legs. It's a symbol of male oppression, really.'

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