For years this kind of wine recorder has been somewhat of a rare item only used by elitists as a sort of niche item limited to true enthusiasts and high-class restaurants or hotels. (The reason might have been related to the price that hovered around \100 for a small sheet) To many it seemed asinine when you could just soak the bottle in water to peel off the label. Yet after a number of years of a wine boom, the wine label recorder has bloomed seemingly overnight into quite a hit. Now you can find them in liquor stores and deparment stores that sell liquor as well as places that don't sell wine like book or stationary stores. And for some the accompanying price is now around \80 (12 for \1000). Anyways, preface aside as you probably assumed the function of this item relies on its adhesive surface which is a glue. To be honest since we began selling the label recorder I have received some complaints regarding it, mainly it is just the typical comment, "The label won't stick," so I feel that I should make some things clear in order to prevent anymore of these unfortunate instances. A few restaurants have added that the instructions are rather vague and when the instructions mention that the adhesive should be hard, what do they mean? "Exactly what is the optimum hardness?" Of course this adhesive is special in the fact that it needs to permeate into the label, but also needs to have an optimum combination of hardness as well. To put it simply this recorder only attaches to a layer of paper from the label, so the top surface layer of the wine label is all that will be removed. Therefore if the glue is too stiff it will not absorb into the paper and in effect will not be able to peel the label. On the contrary when it is too soft there have been claims of dirt and such adhering itself to the glue after it has been removed from the sheet. Due to the manufacturing process, in the summer the glue is hard; in the winter, soft. Also the color of the mounting paper that you will return the label sheet to is important. Before WAC dealt in label recorders with a light blue mounting paper, but since the vast majority of labels are white, we felt why use a different color mount when the case is that only a thin layer of the label is removed is somewhat translucent when mounted. So now we supply a light pearl colored WINEX label recorder. This way another color doesn't stand out from behind the label when you might have only removed a thin layer. Moreover, we sell binders that are especially designed to fit this size of label recorders with rings that are spaced to fit the pre-punched holes in the sheets perfectly. Sorry to digress but, we have received inquiries from lots of people abroad that have checked out the WAC website about this label recorder. Up to now we have received questions from the US, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Germany, and England all to the effect "Can you export these here?" Regretably no. Eventhough we would like to, we only deliver to current Japanese residences. But anyways, if you have never used this before by all means try it at least once. You will be surprisingly pleased by the fulfilling feeling that comes with starting your very own label log. And the best part you will never have to drink a bad bottle twice or maybe even better is that you won't have to memorize which was your favorite vintage. Cheers!

EPISODE 2 --- The screw of the corkscrew (Part 2)

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Last time I wrote on the durability of the screw. This time I felt I should comment on different aspects of the screw. Other important points for a screw besides "durability" are:

*The number of coils in the screw *How the coils are wound and their pitch *The sharpness of the tip of the screw The placement of the tip of the screw *The size of the screw itself *The finishing coat *Whether there is a groove or not

First about the number of coils. Originally the screw for "sommelier knife" corkscrews only used 4 coils due to the fact that this was the traditional number that German manufacturers used. However, more and more screws that employ 5 coils are showing up in the market place (mainly from Italian, Spanish, and French makers). WAC deals in only one type of 4 coiled screw, the high-quality Dreizack sommelier knife. With the increase in the number of coils the pitch became narrower, and for the most part the thickness of the screw itself has come to be noticeably thinner. This is basically just my own humble opinion, but I think this contrivance came about so as to easily remove longer corks like Grand Vin and such. One thing is the balance of the hook depends on how the screw is positioned on the body of the opener, and for long screws with 5 coils the leverage coefficient is greater. But what's even more is that the thin screws allow for low resistence while penetrating the cork. While on the topic of least resistence (don't worry I won't delve into any Buddhist proverbs here) I should mention that grooved screws make it even easier to enter into the cork, and it can just as easily be said that the same effect can be obtained by using a screw coated in rust-proof teflon. Now about the pitch, the narrower it is the more solid and effortless the feeling becomes while screwing in the opener. And then in turn when removing the cork, one can feel the screw well sunk into and gripping onto the cork. Lastly I felt that I should comment on the topic of the tip of the screw. Everyone can understand that the sharper the tip the smoother the feeling when screwing it into the cork. The problem, however, is the posistioning of the tip of the screw. The picture at right shows the correct way for a screw to end with the tip curved inwards, but it is also common to find screws like the one pictured immediately below the aforementioned example among the numerous cheap sommelier knives with the end jutting outwards at the end. This latter of the two screws will not grip onto the cork well because it has to do so while it is destroying the inside of the cork. Most importantly, though, it will not cleanly remove the cork but instead leave it in tatters. So you see it is not just durability but also the positioning of the tip that distinguishes quality corkscrews from the inferior Chinese made ones that you can find in your local \100 shop. Before purchasing make sure to exam this point particularly well. What I said above may seem to some overly analytical, but to a professional sommelier the screw of their corkscrews (or as some refer to it 'sommelier knives') are as important as the edge of a katana blade to a samurai. Handing a true sommelier a \100 opener to do his/her job is tantamount to giving a samurai a bamboo sword to go into battle or even worse commit seppuku [suicide by disembowlment] (now that would be one painful way to die). Next time you go to the store you should really look carefully at the screw. Or if you can, you should really try it out because this is the best way to find the optimum sommelier knife that fits you.

EPISODE 1 --- The screw of the corkscrew

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WAC currently sells corkscrews from 5 countries: France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and of course Japan. What is interesting is that the knife and screw of each country's bottle opener generally consist of unique characterstics. It's just my opinion, but I feel that as far as quality is concerned a Japanese made screw cannot be touched by any of the other 4 countries. That is if the definition of a good screw is one that enables easy entry into the cork and tough enough to endure the demands of professional use like constant opening and closing and twisting. In comparison to European made models it wins in all those categories. The reason for this is, to put it simply because the details are somewhat secret, that during their production of these they are fired and then tempered. To expand on that either simple steel or stainless steel is used and then fired at several thousand degrees to ensure uniform firmness. However, if they just stopped there it could still easily break or bend. So after this the screw is "tempered" which means it is slowly cooled by gradually lowering the temperature to something that is noticeably cooler but still quite hot to complete the firing of the screw. This process not only makes it firm but also gives it amazing suppleness. In Europe as well this process remains a secret outside of the individual company. Like the German manufacturer, Henckels Co., uses what they call a "Sub-zero process," but on the factory tour they would not allow visitors even a peak at how it was done. Neither the Swiss Victorinox Co. nor the Italian Maniago Co. nor makers in the French Aveyron region (not to mention the countless others thoughout Europe) share their experience in the making of wine openers or divulge the essence of their production practices. I hate to admit it, but in Japan except for one company when it comes to durability the companies are inferior to their European counterparts. They have more than enough suppleness, but... In other countries such as Germany durability takes precedence over suppleness. What they are most proud to boast about is their high quality products' semi-permanence. And Italy is the same in the effect that its companies commonly share the idea that durability is paramount to nearly all other factors. The remaining two countries, France and Spain, also share the same ideals. You could say that they both put price, quality, and balance above all else. So when it comes to best balance between durability and suppleness the the award would have to go to the industrial giant, Germany. WAC deals in 10 varieties of corkscrews and the two most popular types are SCIP Co.'s Laguiole & PC from France and Pulltaps of Spain. Both of these, considering the number items that we have sold, have received remarkably few complaints, and these well crafted goods come at a very reasonably price. Lastly, recently \100 shops have been flooded with cheap Chinese-made knockoffs made of cheap metal and usually poor quality plastic. These corkscrews might look like a bargain, but before purchasing you should really inspect them more closely. I've already said too much so I will leave that topic for next time, but consider yourself warned!

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