Waxing is a classique method used for sealing wine bottles that Dimitri Tchelistcheff, our winemaker, has selected for our reserve wines and our larger size bottles. The JARVIS waxing process replaces the foil capsule usually used on the wine bottles. It adds that final elegant and functional seal to a bottle of very special wine. This closure is seldom used now by the larger wineries since it does not lend itself to today’s automatic bottling lines.  And to be beneficial, waxing has to be done at the right time. JARVIS does not do it at the time of bottling, in fact after bottling and corking we allow the bottle to breathe through its natural cork for 2 years or more. Then we wax before shipping. After waxing the wine continues to age gracefully through its contact with the limited air sealed into the bottle.

Since many of our customers are not aware of how easy it is to open a waxed JARVIS bottle we thought we would mention some instructions. The wax we use is quite pliable and easy to penetrate. We suggest utilizing a regular waiter’s corkscrew; insert the point of the corkscrew right through the wax in the middle of the top of the bottle, leverage the corkscrew arm on the rim of the bottle and open as though there was no wax capsule. The wax should break at the rim of the bottle leaving you with a circular wax disc on top of the cork. It’s that simple!