corked and screwcap wine

flogen

Is there a difference? I drink a bit of wine but wouldn't be in any way bothered with the in's and out's of wine as it stands. From my point of view there seems to be a bit of snobbery in relation to screwcap wine, as if it's always cheap. I'd suggest that maybe using a cork is just some tradition that some people seem to think is mandatory for good wine, but I wouldn't know if it has any real effect.

So does anyone here think it does, or know it does? Is it that cork lets a tiny amount of air at the wine, or has a chemical on it that adds to the taste?

garthv

Corked wine is more for the wine connesouirs(sp?) as its always been the way and dont seem to want to let go. To be honest corks in bottles can destroy a wine due to fungus growth and the like.
Screw caps seem a lot more hygenic and safer(cheaper too, which is why its looked down at) but the long term effects of screw caps has not been fully tested as its only new

OldSoak

Hot topic! This is a debate that has the greatest wine experts in the world hot under the collar and dramatically divided. Amidst all the speculation and assumptions made generously by both sides of the debate, there are a few facts:
1. There are some very expensive and extremely good wines under screwcap. You can pay over £100 a bottle for some screw cap wines. Screw cap does not denote poor quality or cheap wine in any way at all.
2. The only reason for the onset of screw cap is that 1 in 10 bottles of wine is lost to TCA contamination (known as "corked" wine). This is a phenomonal loss in an industry which relies heavily on the mercy of Mother Nature anyway, and affects the best and worst producers indiscriminately across the globe. Both proponents of cork and proponents of screwcap are desperate to find a solution to this loss of wine.
3. Cork was originally used because several hundred years ago there was no other way of sealing bottles to lay down for many years without risking leaks or oxidation. Prior to the cellaring of wine in bottles, it was always kept, aged and drunk directly from barrels. It was not used because it was necessarily the best material to age wine under, although it has proved to do the job very well!
4. There are thousands of bottles lying in prestigious wine estate cellars across the world under screwcap - for controlled testing. We will not know whether screwcap does the job as well as cork until we compare two identical bottles of 50 year old Bordeaux which have lain side by side - one with a cork and one with a screw cap. That will ultimately be the only decider in this debate, and we've got a good few years before those bottles will be ready for comparison!
5. Most wine makers are sensible - those who currently screw cap their wines are making wines that are designed and specifically made to be drunk within 1 to 3 years of bottling. Not all wines should be aged. In fact, most wines should not be aged. Therefore, unless you are drinking 10 year old Claret or Burgundy, or a 15 year old Sauternes, the whole debate about cork vs screw cap is probably largely irrelevant.

Hope that helps (sorry for meandering on a bit!)

flogen

OldSoak wrote:

Hope that helps (sorry for meandering on a bit!)

Not at all, some interesting points there. I'd say most people (outside of serious wine drinkers) believe that leaving a bottle of wine for years can only be a good thing, and I'm sure many believe that cork is flawless and the only way to 'seal' wine, for no reason other than it's tradition.

I just got a sample bottle of a new wine the other day, and noticed it was screw cap, it made me think "is this cheap wine?", funny enough it also mentioned on the labels that not all wines are supposed to be aged!

MrsA

Nearly all of the fantastic NZ Sauvignon Blancs on the market are screw top and they could never be considered cheap or inferior in any way. I judge my wine by taste and not by how the bottle was sealed.
MPA

Thraktor

MrsA wrote:

Nearly all of the fantastic NZ Sauvignon Blancs on the market are screw top and they could never be considered cheap or inferior in any way. I judge my wine by taste and not by how the bottle was sealed.
MPA

I was actually about to mention that very thing, I'd consider Whitehaven Sav Blanc to be without a doubt the best in it's price bracket, yet many people nowadays would look down on it for having a screwtop. It's getting better, though, as more winemakers are starting to adopt the new style.

MrsA

^^
Montana is also fantastic from the Marlborough region. It is on special at the moment in O'Brien's
MPA

DaisyDuke

Synthetic corks are starting to wiggle their way into the market as well - all the advantage of screwtop with the joy of a cork.
I think screwtops have a bad wrap because most utter plonk comes with them, and it is something that sticks in the mind.

That said, there's no sound on earth like that little pop as the cork is pulled from the bottle. *sigh* Makes me go weak at the knees...