Well some of them anyway, as they only sent nine wines, and a couple things were/are conspicuously absent, such as the (probably late-bottled) dry Hermannshöhle “Magnus” and also the often superb “Auf der Kertz.” Still, I am happy for anything, and so let’s begin …..
And when you have read your fill of Jakob's wines, then come back to hear me and my rant out....
BACK TO THIS BOTTLE-BUSINESS….it has started to become a “thing,” it’s being discussed, it’s maybe stirring just at the surface of something being done about it. One hopes. It might need some conspicuous importer saying Sorry, I will not ship wine in those bottles any more. Then maybe it catches on. But man, that will take some huevos of brass, and would I have done it? Nope.
Otherwise what needs to happen is a generalized and powerful dislike of the bottles, and for those in the trade, of the pain-in-the-ass of dealing with them. If the likes of Wine Spectator haven’t covered this issue (have they? I let my subscription lapse.) then we need cover stories. “Wine lovers revolt at excessively heavy bottles.” In the interim I shall continue to rave and keep an ear to the ground to see if it does any good.
Lyle Fass was able to get a Franken producer to use normal, screwcap bottles, so I guess anything is possible.