The wine capsule has a history nearly as long as the cork’s (history… not length that is). When people were aging their wines, they found that rodents and especially the cork weevil would at times eat the corks. To protect the cork, a capsule was put over the mouth of the bottle.
Most likely many early vintners found ways to protect their wines using oiled cloth or other means, but soon a thin lead sheet became popular to protect the cork of wines. Lead was used because of its malleability to the unusual shape of the neck of a bottle.
In the ‘90’s however in a major crackdown on heavy metals in the United States the FDA banned the use or importation of wines with lead capsules. Reasons range from the detrimental effects in landfills to the trace amounts that would be left on the lip of the bottle and potentially ingested during consumption. Regardless, wine producers started using other materials, Tin being another easily pliable material quickly took over. But between 2002 and 2008 the cost of a ton of Tin increased 250%. Capsule producers started turning then more and more to Aluminum, Plastics, and Aluminum-Plastic Hybrids.
Of course now other closures such as the screw top have removed both the cork and often times the classic capsule from use. When you pull the capsule off a bottle of wine it most likely is aluminum or plastic with some exceptions being Tin. They are heat-shrinked onto the bottles giving a nice feel. When you’re at your local wine store take a look around, do you see any “naked” wines. Some wine makers have started to go back to using no capsule at all (Since many wineries don’t cellar there wines in dank dungeons with cork weevils much any more), preferring it as more natural and interesting looking.
Some wine makers have also decided to dip the mouth of their wine bottles in wax, for example our special Cuvee Amor has been dipped. The rest of our wines you will find have a Tin capsule. Nate, one of our local tasting salon experts at hope & grace notes that “you can tell the difference between capsules most easily when you cut them.” He explains an easy way to identify what the capsule on your next wine is… “First, if it’s a bottle of hope & grace it will be a tin capsule, that’s easy. You can tell because tin will leave a smoother cut when cut with a wine key or similar straight blade. It will also feel heavy when removed from the bottle. Aluminum tends to cut with a more jagged edge and if you compare it to a tin capsule, it’s much lighter. Plastic and plastic hybrids are generally easy to identify because they don’t cut very well, often times the entire capsule comes off when cut, and it feels thin and more brittle than the metals.” Check out more information on local capsule producer Lafitte USA’s website. They have more information about polymer capsules and cutting edge new options.