A frequent topic of discussion with our customers is the subject of corks and screw caps. Most fully accept and even prefer screw caps, but a significant group stands squarely in the cork’s corner.

 

The first question many have is why fix what isn’t broken? After all, not only does the cork perform its primary function, but it is also romanticized for the ceremonial process in the removing of it.

 

Wine is a living beverage. And as with all living things, there’s a chance it could get sick. Corks, with their porous structure, are potential carriers of “diseases.”

 

The wine is exposed to the bottom of a cork. If bacteria or contaminants are in the cork, it will “infect” the wine.

 

In this scenario, the diseased wine is referred to and described as being: “corked.”

 

The most common “disease” is: 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole, a chemical compound that is a chlorinated derivative of anisole. Cork dorks, I mean wine fanatics, refer to it as simply: TCA.

 

How does one know if a wine is corked? The most common answer is that the aroma of the wine has a strong odor of wet newspapers. It is an unpleasant smell that a vast majority of wine drinkers will immediately recognize.

 

So what are your chances of being bedside to a sick bottle of wine? My personal experience is that one out of eighteen bottles of wine are flawed in some manner, with cork related problems the main culprit. The industry frequently uses a two per cent figure for corked wines.

 

Two per cent may not sound like a lot, but would any supermarket shopper accept a two per cent chance of bringing home spoiled milk or eggs?

 

The wine industry has been working on numerous cork treatments as well as alternatives to the cork.

 

Before these efforts are discussed, one needs to put the wine market into perspective. Ninety-eight per cent of all wine produced is intended to be consumed within two years of release.

 

Because the wine industry is geared to serving a market where its product is immediately consumed, it does not overly romanticize the cork.

 

One initially obvious solution was the synthetic cork: A hard plastic based material dyed to look like a real cork. This alternative requires a corkscrew and so the tradition and the ceremony of opening the bottle are maintained.

 

Ah, but the drawbacks... A synthetic cork can be more difficult to open. We often experience customers returning to the store seeking our help in the removing of it.

 

If many bottles with synthetic corks are challenging to open, they are down right impossible to re-seal with a fake cork. Wine, of all things, should be easy!

 

 

But the biggest negative became apparent when high quality wineries experimented with those solid synthetic corks. After years of aging, they noticed that their wines tasted flat. Wine, as mentioned earlier, is a living beverage. Living things need to breathe. While too much air will turn wine into vinegar, a little is necessary to sustain it. Corks, over time, permit a small amount of air in and if the wine is cellared properly, this helps promote positive evolution.

The other popular solution is the screw cap. These are now high tech -- not the screw caps of old. Alcan, a big player in this industry developed the “Stelvin closure.”  This version features microscopic pores that accommodate breathing.

 

Virtually every wine producing area of the world has embraced screw caps for everyday wines. Wineries from Australia and New Zealand were early converts and now it is rare to see a sub-$20.00 bottle with natural cork from these two countries.

 

The list of wine producers using screw caps grows daily and even wines priced above $20.00 a bottle feature them. Plumpjack, a highly respected small production Napa winery places half of its $200.00 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon into screw top bottles.

 

 Two of the top selling wines in our store, star Burgundy producer Joseph Drouhin’s LaForet Chardonnay ($11.99) and New Zealand’s great Sauvignon Blanc winery Oyster Bay ($12.99), are in screw cap bottles. Our customers often comment on how easy they are to open and re-seal.

 

So what are the negatives? The main one, and a biggie, is public perception. Many consumers identify screw caps with cheap wines.  Even though wines such as the $200.00 a bottle Plumpjack Cabernet example contradict this, public sentiment is slow to change. In the store we find that screw-capped wines are often an objection when the wine is being purchased as a gift.   

 

A growing number of wineries have turned to a glass/hard plastic stopper made by Alcoa called Vino-Seal, or Vino-Lok. It kind of looks like an apothecary jar stopper and features an inert o-ring. The Vino-Seal creates a hermetic seal that prevents oxidation and contamination. Vino-Seal topped bottles would be more popular were it not for its high cost and the extra expense of manual bottling.

 

The Vino-Seal is great for consumers for three major reasons. It is attractive in appearance; it is easy to remove and it re-seals the bottle effortlessly. Right now, one of the store’s favorite Sicilian producers: Cusumano is using this stopper and our customers love it. (Nero D’Avola @ $10.99 and Benuara, a Nero / Syrah blend @ $15.99)

 

Of course for long term cellaring, the Vino-Seal has the same drawback as a synthetic cork.

 

How about bottle caps? Yep. The system is called “crown caps.” It is a bottle cap latched on with a strap. So don’t throw away that beer-bottle opener and remember to say: Pinot please!

 

Don’t mess with the Zork! In addition to having a really funny name, the Zork looks pretty odd too – almost as if a lobster tail mated with a screw cap. The Zork closure consists of three parts; an outer cap providing a tamper evident clamp that locks onto the bottle, an inner metal foil which provides an oxygen barrier similar to a screw cap, and an inner plunger which creates the ‘pop’ on extraction and reseals after use.

 

Well yes… at a price. Some wineries, those who sell expensive wines such as Lafite-Rothschild, pay a premium to procure high-grade dense corks that are washed individually in a chlorine water solution. This and related processes add as much as ninety-five cents to production costs. – About half the price of Two-buck chuck!

 

 

In summary:

 

Corks are here to stay, but fewer wineries will be using them for wines produced for immediate consumption.

There are many alternative enclosures and the best so far are the new generation of screw caps.

 

The quality of wine no longer has a direct relationship with whatever enclosure the producer utilizes. For example: a yummy tasty wine at $19.99 may have a screw cap and a $19.99 wine that tastes like old sneakers may be topped by natural cork.

 

And just as with human relationships, don’t judge a book by its cover. It’s what’s inside that counts.

 

-- Steven Fox