On wine & skin care routine
S2 E12 | No, I won't recommend you soak in huge tubs of red wine, and I won't mention my obsession with Caudalie's Vinopure skin care line. Ops.
Ciao! I'm Giulia and this is the second season of the Intergalactic Guide for Wine Explorers: the newsletter that helps you connect the dots in the wine universe, a couple of bottles / songs / words / random stories / links per month.
I will try to translate all previous episodes, but it is going to take some time, as Iām not that fluent in English anymore.
š Meet my obsession
Let's be clear: breakfast is the best moment of the day. Period. Whether you prefer it sweet or savory, there is no better moment than the very first hours of the day: ever since I started waking up at 5:30 AM to create my course on approaching wine, I even have two rounds of breakfast, so the deriving pleasure has doubled.
If I had to imagine a podium of the best moments of my day, the 10 to 15 minutes that precede the act of tucking myself under my bedsheets would surely follow breakfast time. Why? Because of my skin care routine, of course.
What do these moments have in common? Theyāre the two ends of my days thread: breakfast is when everything begins, skin care signals the end of yet another day: they are the alpha and the omega of my daily routine. They are also self-care moments, which I usually live in a blissful solitude.
Let's get one thing straight: I don't care if wrinkles and the inexorable downward trend of my face are 90% due to my genetics. I will keep on using my exfoliating toners and serums, applying purifying masks to my face on a weekly basis, and covering my face with hydrating creams and, above all, my SPF 50+.
Now letās get to the point: the other night, before going to sleep, while I was applying this miraculous avocado antioxidant night mask, one of the many false myths that circulate among wine experts came to mind: the fact that it is unthinkable to age a wine with a screw cap. That oxygen is essential for a wine to evolve and develop a complex character.
Are we sure that this is the case? Do oxygen and complexity go hand in hand? Or is a complex wine without wrinkles possible?
āļø Cork-Pride & Prejudice
Globally, cork is considered the best wine stopper. In addition to the romanticism linked to the pop! sound that accompanies the opening of a bottle of wine, we also think that cork is the best choice to allow the evolution of wine over time.
Assuming that what I have just written is more or less representative of 90% of wine loversā thoughts on the matter, let's now set the record straight.
Basic assumption number 1: screw cap does not equal low quality. In many countries of the world - such as Australia, or New Zealand - this type of closure has been the subject of numerous studies, for decades, and in any case is much more used than cork.
Assumption number 1 leads us indirectly to assumption number 2, which is not exactly basic and I believe not even entirely obvious: it is possible to age wine with a screw cap.
Oxygen both enhances and impoverishes any wineās profile: specifically, it contributes with developed flavors and a generically rounder taste, but at the same time it takes away freshness and dampens the wineās vibrant character.
Weāre indeed taught that oxygen must always be monitored with great caution, during the entire production process: from the moment the grapes are harvested to the final bottling moments, but even more so, during cellar time.
Specific conditions are to be put in place to correctly store the product and keep its qualities intact over time; it is necessary for the closure (of any kind) not to allow an excessive intake of oxygen, to avoid incurring in wine oxidation.
Weāre tempted to think that all screw caps are airtight; however, some go as far as to say that modern screw caps have the same micro-porosity that the best corks should have.
Not to mention that most wines are closed with synthetic corks ā which have a high level of permeability and are optimal for wines intended to be drank soon.
The cherry on top of this cake is we tend to think that oxygen is necessary for the evolution of wine in the bottle, but many winemakers have denied this assumption over time.
To quote the oenologist and researcher Emile Peynaud: āit is the opposite of oxidation, a process of reduction, or asphyxia by which wine develops in the bottleā1 or Professor Pascal RibĆ©reau-Gayon: āWhen a wine ages in the bottle, the oxidation ā reduction potential decreases regularly until it reaches a minimum value, depending on how well the bottle is sealed. Reactions that take place in bottled wine do not require oxygen.ā2
Briefly put: the evolution of wine is due to chemical reactions that occur in the bottle regardless of oxygen.
Soā¦Where does the truth lie?
As itās often the case: in the middle.
Screw caps and cork are two sides of the same coin. First of all, it is a matter of personal taste: e.g. do I like the aromas the wine develops thanks to oxygen or a more vibrant and acidic wine?; secondly, it depends on the grapes being transformed into wine and their peculiar characteristics; last but not the least, it all depends on the production methods being employed and economics-related choices of the winery.
šŖ A wine with screw cap closure
š¾ MoSā Pinot Noir, 100% Pinot Noir
š¦ When to drink it: Friday night, 7:30 PM
š® For my wine nerds:
Fresh, fragrant, subtle ā without hiding a deeper note, of forest and mushrooms. A perfect autumn wine; with the rising temperatures weāre facing globally, it could as well be a perfect winter wine.
Still, itās a wine that leaves no room for pessimism, as it lives a seemingly never ending Friday: when the weekend is upon us and the scent of well-deserved idleness hovers in the air; for us losers born in the early ā90s, probably the most beautiful scent in the world.
š· Ocean, John Butler Spotify | YouTube
On the wineryās website we read that the wine comes from young vineyards, to which the winery is giving time to grow and express themselves at their best; what do they produce in the meantime? āA fresh, vintage wine ā whose fresh character the screw cap helps to maintainā.
Mission accomplished.
āļø Another wine with screw cap closure
š¾ Ettore Germanoās āNascettaā, 100% Nascetta
š¦ When to drink it: maybe it's because I'll be living by sea for some time, but I really crave long walks by the sea. How beautiful is the sea in winter? With a puccia (deep fried Apulian kind of sandwich) or a couple of panzerotti (an Apulian savory dough pouch that is filled with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce and then fried), and this bottle of Nascetta, even more so.
š® For my wine nerds:
Two main things to remember:
This is skin contact maceration done properly
Wine can only age with corkaahahhaah
10 days of skin-contact maceration that do not obliterate yet enhance the character of a grape that does not stand out for its aromatic features; the maturation in amphorae gives further breath to the discourse of this wine - without affecting its essence - which ends its journey with some bottle aging.
Lots of citrus, flowers, almonds, a touch of honey, maybe I even dreamed of a touch of hydrocarbons, finishing off with just the right amount of savouriness; in short, the portrait of what I would like to drink from now until the end of time.
š· Grow old with me, John Lennon Spotify | YouTube
I think that this wine is the clear ābottledā proof, that the screw cap does not preclude a journey of waiting and discovery; it is not a synonym - always - of immediacy and readiness. This 2021 Nascetta is so vigorous and crackling, that it makes you ask yourself: "what if I forgot you in the cellar for a couple of years?"
Iād like to leave you with the more or less faithful words of Sergio Germano himself: "the wine must suffocate in the bottle and open up in the glass".
I am not an oenologist and in general I have few certainties in life, but this sentence here sounds really good.
š« Wine for thoughts
Why should oxygen contribution be monitored? For the same reason I apply an antioxidant serum on my face every night.
As we said before: the oxygen both enhances and impoverishes the wineās profile; we need it to breathe and therefore live but at the same time it actively contributes to our aging.
What effect does oxygen have on wine? It contributes to its profile with evolved notes and a rounder taste, but at the same time it takes away freshness and dampens the vibrant character.
For this reason, we earlier said that itās mainly a matter of taste and production methods.
It is no coincidence that -even before choosing our wineās closure- when it comes to maturation, we sometimes prefer the use of steel, in other cases we go for wooden barrels (larger or smaller), or concrete containers: the porosity of the materials is a decisive element in outlining the profile of the wine that will end up in the bottle.
šŖ Have you ever wondered how to take your first steps in exploring the world of wine, without the typical awe that goes with it?
I am shaping the Intergalactic Guide for Wine Explorers into a series of evenings dedicated to the discovery of oneās personal taste, an introduction to wine that does not aim to train future sommeliers, but conscious drinkers: taking the first step and nurturing oneās curiosity for a conscious approach to wine.
š°ļø Update: I have finished building the virtual space that will host the 5 evenings of the course. We (me and myself) are in the process of building the landing page that will enable booking a place in the first edition of the course. We are also actively scouting the wines that we will taste together and defining few final things. I am a little tired but very very happy, I can't wait to tell you more.
šš» For obvious reasons, the course is only going to be in Italian. But if you still would like to give me suggestions or hints to help me build it, I would be immensely grateful. You can do so by leaving a comment or sending me a DM on Instagram.
š Links worth sharing
While we talk about useless things ā like Christmas presents, a genocide is still going on before everyone's eyes. The NY Times interviewed Sari Khoury, owner of Philokalia, a winery based in the West Bank ā āWine is above politics. Wine is tolerance.ā
The hilarious, tragicomic experience of a journalist who actually tried the crazy diet published by Vogue in the ā70s. Read it on The Kitchn.
Did you know that some wineries have started using screw caps on Barolo wines? Not a very recent article, but surely an interesting read. In Italian, on Gambero Rosso.
Do you know the group of wineries that goes by the name of āSvitatiā, that could be translated as āScrew cap aficionadosā? No? Well you should. Another article in Italian.
Jamie Goode answers the question "is screw cap or cork better?"
š Q&A
Do you have a question for me but don't have Substack to leave a comment? Would you like to talk about something specific? Or perhaps recommend me a botte of wine, or a winery to visit?
šØ Send me an email, I always gladly answer!
That's it for this month: thank you very much for your time.
If you enjoyed this episode of the Intergalactic Guide for Wine Explorers, you could share it with your friends or acquaintances who might also be interested in the project:
If you have anything to ask, or doubts, you know where to find me: Iām always happy to talk about wine, down below in the comments section, or on Instagram.
Until next time.
Ciao!
E. Peynaud (1984), āKnowing and Making Wineā
P. RibĆ©reau-Gayon et al (2000), āHandbook of Enology - Vol.2 The Chemistry of Wine Stabilization and Treatmentsā