A couple of aged beauties under screwcap last night.
2001 Grosset Riesling Polish Hill Clare Valley: Sealed under screwcap, this was drinking perfectly. There a hint of honey and toast development along with a smoky mineral note. It is rich and full, with lime brullee and preserved lemon flavours. It has good intensity and excellent length.
2007 Brokenwood Sémillon ILR Reserve: Sealed under screwcap, this has an inviting nose of lemon butter, mint, toast and dried herbs. It has a steely backbone and is starting to flesh out, showing intense citrus fruit flavours. It has great poise and cut and is thoroughly engaging and refreshing.
Our nice run of aged Aussie wines was ruined by cork. A 1998 Wendouree Shiraz Mataro was splendid in every way apart from an annoying whiff of tca.
I’ve probably learned more about the potential of screwcap wines from Aussie Riesling than anywhere else. A credit to the industry that this was explored as early as it was. Wonderful stuff from the Clare Valley.
Drank a 2007 Inman OGV Pinot under screwcap a couple of days ago, and I was impressed by the freshness of it. Though I have to wonder if the aging curve is retarded quite a bit, which is somewhat of a concern to me.
That’s a really good question - and of course there is no way to know unless you have multiple bottles of each under different closures and check them out over long periods of time.
It’s also dependent upon the liner used - as you know, some allow kotler oxygen in and some less. My guess is that these Aussie ones had run liners, allowing just a little O2 in over time.
Of course, you don’t have to worry about TCA, so there is that!
There is little doubt in my mind that the aging curve is extremely shallow. If the goal is freshness I believe screwcaps are the way to go. However, if secondary and tertiary aromas are your jam you’ll need extra decades. Or just use cork.
When screwcaps are scientifically proven to allow air into the bottles at rates predetermined by the manufacturer, why would you just come out and say only corks allow wines to develop in a reasonable amount of time?
Australians like Jeremy have been cellaring wines under screwcap for around 2 decades. I’m sure going to trust their experiences over those of people who have little or no experience in this area.