Corks vs Screwcaps
posted by philip in Wine Industry, Wine
Bottle enclosures used to be simple. Cork=good. Screwcap=bad.
The lines are now blurring more than ever. It started with the Australians using screwcaps for the majority of their bottles, no matter the price. New Zealand, South Africa, South America and the rest of the New World then began to follow suit.
Meanwhile, Europe held steadfastly onto the cork for all but the most inexpensive wines.
Just last month, a consortium of highly regarded French Wineries announced they would begin using screwcaps.
Technically, screwcaps are better than corks for most wines as there is no risk of the screwcap going mouldy. There is still some debate on whether the finest wines, meant for long aging, should be used with a seal as airtight as a screwcap, or whether the slighly porous cork will allow the wine to age more gracefully.
For the remaining 99% of wines, this is a step forward.
Looks like you guys are off to a great start! Never thought about the merits of using screwcaps vs. corks. Learn something new every day, especially for a wine dummy like myself. To paraphase the old Virigina Slims cigarette slogan, “You’ve come a long way Philip James!”
[…] as you open the wine, check the cork. It used to be that screw caps were bad, but thats no longer the case. However, a cheap synthetic […]
The Wine Messenger wrote a good piece about this today:
http://blog.winemessenger.com/default.asp?Display=11