Today’s Monday Musings is sparked by a conversation I had a long time ago with Luca Formentini of Selva Capuzza. Luca mentioned that he was considering doing away with the foil on the capsules of his wine bottles. He was the very first person I had ever heard who was considering that. Until I had a long conversation on my podcast with Kathleen Wilcox about it. Then I read her article about the waste and environmental damage this small item costs our planet.

I then began to exam how I feel about this part of the wine bottle, its shirt if you will. Having cut myself on the foil more than once, I can say I support the process to get rid of the capsule but I can also acknowledge that part of me will miss it. I judge how well I have opened a bottle by the shape the capsule is in. I like the look of the capsule in photos.

When I see a bottle without it’s capsule, it usually says natural wine to me. I immediately think someone is either environmentally conscious or maybe even cheap.

When I make wine, I do not put capsules on my bottles although I did buy them the first year I made wine at home. It’s been 15 years and I only used them once and it did make me feel that I was creating something more professional.

It didn’t change the taste of the wine though and at the end of the day that’s the point. So I say, let’s get rid of this object and focus on the content of the wine, not the dressing of the bottle.