, , when I found a bottles of California Merlot I'd just purchased had a screw cap rather than a cork.

I'm sure they're very proud of the technical superiority of their closure (though the label lacked the poetic tribute to the screw cap I've seen on other bottles), a modernity expressed by the little rocket ship on their "Fusee" logo.

Then I sampled the contents. The undeniable savor of rocket fuel proclaimed the appropriateness of the "moderne" closure and logo, though I did not find "Cellared and bottled at the JetLab"⁽¹⁾ on the label.

For contrast I opened a bottle of Chilean Merlot purchased at the same time and at the same price. Stoppered with a brilliant red foam plastic "cork"⁽²⁾, it was dark, dense, and smooth - completely lacking the distinctive overtones of hydrazine and nitric acid so prominent in the former bottle.

Moral: just because it's "better" doesn't mean it's better.

(1) the "JetLab" (JPL) is 3 miles down the road from here in La Canada/Flintridge.

(2) I'm particularly fond of these red foam "corks" because they remain pliable enough to restopper bottles when consigning them to the fridge for another day (yes, that does happen).