In the past the screw cap has had a bad reputation that has associated them with capping of “cheap wines”. Today wine makers are reevaluating that train of thought and are more frequently applying screw caps to their more “select” wines. 25 wineries are already applying cap bottles to all their wines in New Zealand, France, Australia, Spain, South Africa, Canada, and The United States, testing and slowly integrating screw caps. In this article I will try to show the pros and cons of all three major bottle closing methods and show why screw capping is ultimately the best.
Natural Cork: Natural cork has a long tradition of bottle closing, although today it is the least popular method at wineries only accounting for 10-15% of all bottles of wine shelves. One of the reasons for this is because the cork must be sanitized with TCA (2,4,6-Trichloroanisole) which gives the wine a flat, musty odor. It is estimated by some wineries that over 15% of their wine is “tainted” by cork every year. Another reason is that although the corking method does allow the wine to “breath” it is not as consistent as the screw cap method. Although corking has it negatives it also has its positives. Corking carries with it the romance of opening a wine bottle. The smelling of the cork is not the same as with a synthetic cork and not existent with a screw cap. The environment has also been brought into the debate over the past few years. Cork is a renewable resource stripped from the cork tree. According to the World Wildlife Fund cork trees account for 6.7 million acres of forest and accounts for employing over 100,000 around the world, with the decline in cork usage some of these cork farms have fallen into neglect and stripped away for other farming usages.
Synthetic corks: This type of cork is usually made from plastic. It looks similar to the old cork closure and one might think that is a viable alternative to tree made cork. Studies of shown that synthetic cork has huge oxidation problems, letting in too much air over time. This is ok for cheaper, massed produced wines, especially in the United States where 90% of all wine is consumed in the first year. This is definitely a problem for your finer top shelf wine where it might be saved for special occasions or collections. The negative of synthetic corks only leaves screw caps and cork the only contenders in the wine closer debate.
Screw caps: Through years of scientific research the screw cap has emerged as the champ for its elimination of the oxidation problem and the TCA contamination. Studies by companies like UCP and Hogue have proven what a lot of wineries have already known. When it comes to longer lasting, better tasting wine, the screw cap is the natural choice. Yes the screw cap does lose a lot of the “romance” of wine that the cork offers, its consistency cannot be beat.
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When it comes to the debate of screw cap vs. cork the argument is relevant to the taster. For some wine connoisseurs the ritual of opening the wine with a fine cork cannot compare to the feel or lack of opening a screw cap. To me in the end the ultimate factor is what goes on to your tongue. A rotten steak can be dressed up to look like a most fabulous meal….until you take the first bite. I would rather enjoy wine with my mouth rather than my eyes.
