Food - Drink
What's The Point Of Foil Wrapper On Wine Bottles?
By SYLVIA TOMCZAK
When it comes to the various features of a wine bottle and the purposes that they serve, it can be tricky. The plastic or aluminum foil sleeve topping the cork and neck of a wine bottle is called a capsule, and while corks keep the wine sealed, capsules don’t have much use.
Historically, these foil wrappers were used to protect against rodents from gnawing through corks and prevent the counterfeiting of wine. Since cellars have become more hygienic and counterfeiters more skilled, foil wrapping has become purely aesthetic.
Foil wrappers are now used to distinguish wines stored horizontally, especially expensive ones, but it has become costly and unsustainable as most capsules end up in landfills. Because of this, many wineries are now choosing to use glass stoppers, cover the necks with wax, or forgo capsules entirely.