Corks are a less-than-perfect solution for keeping wine fresh. They can dry out, letting in corrupting oxygen. They may suffer from “cork taint,” in which 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, or “TCA,” adds a wet dog smell to the wine. They’ll often shred apart in the bottle, which is annoying. The solution? Store all wine in the vacuum of space.
Or you could do what vinter Michel Laroche did, and experiment with using screw-off caps.
So in 2002 he took action. He set up an alternative bottling line and bottled three percent of his production under screwcaps. He bottled the same day and from the same vats. He brought four of his wines that run the gamut of his line for us to taste, with a bottle under each closure.
The difference was shocking. With screwcap, the 2002 Chablis St. Martin (about $25; find this wine) was still a youthful, flinty Chablis without a whole lot of intrigue but solid and fresh. The cork closure for the same wine, by contrast, was older tasting with more signs of oxidation. Everyone save one person at the tasting preferred the screwcap.
I’m reminded of Oskar Blues‘ decision to distribute their beer in plastic-lined aluminum cans, despite the craft brewing standard brown bottle, simply because they think the can is a better delivery mechanism. (And it very well may be.) You have to ask: what is a cork bringing to the wine’s flavor besides tradition?
Bringing closure? A screwcap-cork showdown [DrVino.com]
“cork taint”, hehehehe…
Screw top wines have been around for a while, but they just haven’t been picked up. Most traditional wineries scoff at screw caps, but a few wineries, particularly in regions without a strong tradition of wine making, have experimented with this. I think Australian and South African wines have the most screw caps. I’ve tried a few of them, and I don’t know if it was just shitty wine, but they never tasted as good.
Some wineries are also experimenting with synthetic cork, which provides the same effect as a screw on cap.
Also, as long as you keep the bottle on its side, and the cork wet, you shouldn’t get problems with cork taint or the cork coming apart, as long as it’s made by a decent winery.
I love that industry folks are realizing that the “cheap wine” screw-caps and wine boxes are better for the product. What I don’t understand is why more of them aren’t moving to rubber “corks”. They solve all the problems of traditional corks without changing the look of the packaging.
The problem with synthetic cork, or “rubber corks” as tec called them, is that they leak air. They are not as air-tight as real cork, making them the least-desirable option.
wine in a box is brilliant at this — there’s an inner bag (”bladder”) that shrinks as you pour it out — therefore air is never re-introduced to the container. this is how you can keep it in the fridge forever and it doesn’t oxidize.
Several of my friends are sonoma/napa county winemakers and vineyard managers, and the fact that cork is inferior to modern alternatives is not new - the concept has been around for years.
Its not the winemakers who are shunning synthetic corks and screwcaps - no one would like to prevent loss or protect the wine during distribution and storage more then the winermakers - the problem is selling it to the bulk of uninformed consumers who feel that a screwcap or synthetic cork is either a cost-cutting cheap alternative or gimmick.