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Having just received a bottle of Alzinger Steinertal Smaragd Riesling closed with cork I started to wonder: given that screwcap is so immensely popular in Austria why do some of the producers choose to still use cork there for their high-end wines? Other relatively recent bottles that I can think of with this closure include at least Bründlmayer’s Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben, Gobelsburg’s Grüner Veltliner Lamm and Nikolaihof’s Steiner Hund Riesling. Would it not be fair to think that with their relatively long experience of using screwcap they would be comfortable with that closure all the way? I am not saying that they should not be using cork, I just find it curious as it seems to me that sub-20 € it is impossible to find anything other than screwcap in Austria (besides the few with the VinoLok glass closure). Are there perhaps some reasons to this that are not related to winemaking/ageing process? Given the relatively small production and strong local demand one would think that they do not need to cater too much to other markets’ preferences.

Good question. Are those natural corks or DIAM?

In Australia many boutique producers use DIAM I think for aesthetic reasons and “perceived value”. Some bigger brands also bottle cork/DIAM for their higher range while doing screwcap on the lower end (Torbreck for example).

The rule of thumb is…

High quality wines with the potential for ageability (from the best wineries) are mostly “closed” with natural high-quality cork.

Some wineries will use glass corks https://vinolok.com for their better or very good wines.

For the rest of the better wines Stelvin Stelvin will be used or compounded/pressed cork.

The least ageable or lesser quality wines will receive synthetic corks.

As with everything decision of closures are a economic decision and it wouldn’t make sense using a half Dollar high-quality-cork on a 5$ bottle.

Additionally if a wine is supposed to be drunk within the next year long-term effects of cork-degrading or long-term emission of certain aromas which could occur using synthetic corks will not basis of deciding to take a natural cork and increase the wines price (and decrease market demand).

Didn’t Vinea Wachau require natural corks?

No, as for an example FX Pichler does close their 2019

Gr. Veltliner " Loibner " Federspiel®
Gr. Veltliner Ried Klostersatz Federspiel®
Gr. Veltliner " Dürnsteiner " Smaragd®
Gr. Veltliner " Dürnsteiner " Smaragd®

with Stelvin; rest is all natural cork.

Unfortunately I do not have a recollection whether the bottles mentioned have been under natural cork or DIAM and the Steinertal I have not even opened yet. I consider Austria quite a different thing from Australia since (I assume) that the latter relies so much more on exports so surely they must consider for example what the Chinese prefer. I would think that most of the high end Austrian wines is consumed inside its borders.

Are you talking about Austria or in general? I cannot recall seeing any Austrian wine ever under synthetic cork. I was only interested in Austria here given their notable fondness of screwcap, similar to New Zealand, yet in New Zealand screwcap seems to be very common even for the most expensive wines (however I do acknowledge that my experience with NZ wines is considerably smaller than with Austria).

Austria, or as we say Österreich. That was the topic.

Well, a single vineyard Smaragd is a top-wine in the portfolio, so it is meant to be aged (at least in the mind of the producer) - and therefor he uses natural cork.
Screwcaps are very popular, but usually used for the wines to be drunk earlier (where it is absolutely justyfied imho) …
for wines that can be aged 10, 15, 20+ years I´m still not totally convinced that a SC is a perfect closure compared to a natural cork.
(but we had that discussion before - I´m not elaborating it again …)
(BTW: Alzinger uses natural cork, no DIAM - same for most producers here. In Styria the Vinolok, a glass cap, is sometimes used.)

BTW: last Saturday I had a wonderfully aged and singing Alzinger Riesling Smaragd Steinertal 1999 (with natural cork) - and I´m simply not sure if it would have been as good under screwcap …

Hi Gerhard,

I had a FX 06 GV Loibner Berg 06 last week - unfortunately TCA…heavy TCA…cork was highest qualtity…the other 4 bottles I drank before (between 2013 and 2018) all perfect…this being my last bottle…well, sh*t happenz.

And then last week a Hirtzberger Singerriedl 07…was superior to the not spoiled 06GV Loibner Bergs.

Cheers

Andreas

Reflects my thoughts, exactly.

Since starting Paetra, I followed the same protocol: a mix of screwcaps and cork depending on the wine. 2019 is the first vintage where I went exclusively screw-cap. I’ll see what happens, but I know with certainty that the every bottle of wine will be sound. Producer preference, but I’m sold on screw-cap myself.

Cheers,
Bill

Thanks all for your comments! Nice to hear a winemaker’s point of view as well even if not from the region in question, will be looking to try one of your top wines under screwcap with some age if I ever come across them.

Though I don’t make riesling, I have been 100% screw cap since 2006 and would be happy to share some older ones with folks out there should they like to try any. I can guarantee that wines do continue to evolve under screw cap - period.

Cheers.