A picture is worth a thousand words…
Chris wrote in yesterday asking: “Do you have directions for how to bind a cork to the side of the bottle using foil…? I work at a restaurant and would like to do the same for my customers.” I promised Chris I’d get on the case right away.
Last night I went to Falai to visit my friend, the inimitable Alberto Taddei, ex-sommelier at Ristorante Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence (one of Italy’s greatest wine destinations) and one of NYC’s most beloved wine directors. He allowed me to create this slide show:
Step 1: carefully cut a disk out of the very top of the capsule, leaving enough attached so that it can be folded back (the disk’s diameter should be equivalent to that of the cork).
Step 2: gently fold the top back.
Step 3: cut the capsule above the top lip of the neck, leaving a piece attached below the top flap.
Step 4: gently fold the ring back.
Step 5: gently slide the cork up through the ring (be sure to slide it up from the bottom); gently pinch the center of the ring to fasten the cork securely; then gently fold the pinched foil to one side to make the ring appear smooth.
Pretty cool, huh? That’s a bottle of 2003 Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico, one of my all-time favorites, done into a 100% traditional style.
Above: toasty focaccine at Falai.
Excellent! Thanks, Jeremy. After that dinner at Falai recently, Simon and I were wondering how to do this as well. Grazie Alberto!
Alberto is indeed the greatest. A sweetheart of a guy and he knows his onions, as they say in Blighty. Not to mention how to pair them with wine.