Whole Network Food and Wine Italian Wines Japanese Wines Wine News Wine Shops Wine Tours Wineries

 

Cork Vs. Screwcap: The Debate Rages On

Filed in archive Wine News by Carol Bancroft on October 6, 2007

Cork Vs. Screwcap: The Debate Rages On

I'm a little torn on the screwcap vs. cork issue. On the one hand, the ease of opening and resealing a wine bottle that uses a screwcap closure is wonderful. On the other hand, a bit of the romance is lost when you don't hear that "pop" when you crack open a bottle. Plus, I'm a cork collector. I save the corks from nearly every bottle I drink. The corks from special occasions get set aside. The others go into a basket. (I have grand plans to make a cork board similar to this one someday.) Screwcaps don't exactly inspire nostalgia like wine corks do.

However, more and more wine producers are turning to the screwcap - and not just for lower-end wines. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that cork is fast losing ground:
The cork has nearly disappeared from Australia's domestically produced - and broadly exported - wines. In California, screw caps are no longer reserved for jug wines: The $155-a-bottle Plumpjack Reserve Cabernet is a twist-off. Even France, the country most reluctant to abandon a corky tradition, is flirting with alternatives. Earlier this year, Maison Jean-Claude Boisset became the first to do away with corks on a grand cru red burgundy, sealing half its $200-a-bottle 2005 Chambertin with screw caps.

Experts cite tricholoanisole (TCA, or the chemical that causes a wine to become "corked") as the primary reason producers are shifting to other methods of closure. However, screwcaps are not without their own problems. Corks allow very small amounts of oxygen into the wine. A screwcap can seal the bottle so tightly that no oxygen can get in, and that might cause a problem called "reduction." Whereas a bottle of "corked" wine has a distinct, moldly, off-putting smell, a bottle of wine sealed by a screwcap might eventually put off a smell of sulfurlinks - equally unappealing in my book.

I doubt the question of which is the better closure will be answered anytime soon. But I suppose I should start perfecting my method of removing wine labels, just in case corks become a rare commodity.






Permalink: Cork Vs. Screwcap: The Debate Rages On
Tags: wine  corks  screwcaps  closures  wines  screwcap+debate  cork+screwcap  debate+rages 

Trackback: http://www.creative-weblogging.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.pl/95020

Related Entries:

Vintner Vents about Corks - 07 December 2006

Brits Thumbs Down Screwcap Wines - 09 May 2007

Americans Don't Get Corks - 16 June 2007

Corks Better For Environment Than Screwcaps - 26 July 2007





RSSrss   | See all blog subscribe options
Google google   |   What is RSS?
Yahoo! yahoo
Addthis Subscribe using any feed reader!
Bloglines Bloglines
Newsletter
Grouptivity

Use the search to look for other interesting posts



 
  • Advertise with us

  • Learn more about our advertising options or email advertising - at - creative-weblogging.com or give us a call at +1 (650) 331 4900.




  • Other blogs in the same channel in the Creative Weblogging Network







 

Tagcloud: American Wines Australian Wines California Wines Canadian Wines Celebrities and Wine Cheap Wines Food and Wine French Wines German Wines Greek Wines Holiday Wine Italian Wines Japanese Wines New York Wines New Zealand Wines Northeastern US Wines Northwestern US Wines Organic Wine Ports and Sherries South African Wines Spanish Wines Sparkling Wine Vineyards Vocabluary Wine Accessories Wine Awards Wine Blogs Wine Books Wine Clubs Wine Events Wine Gifts Wine Laws Wine Making Wine News Wine Related Contests Wine Resources Wine Rooms/Bars Wine Shops Wine Tasting Wine Tours Wine Trips Wine Videos Wineries Wines from Argentina Wines from Chile