I had one of their Preludes a few weeks ago, and appreciated that it was in a modern closure. I just wish more of the industry would get over their fear of the Iberian cork mafioso. Leeuwin & Lobbies - Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts
Indeed. I havenât had a ton of corked wines in the last year, but I have had a bunch (10+) where there was seepage up and out, and the wine was bad. But, combined, I probably had close to 20 bad wines this past year due to cork issues. Sure, the ritual of pulling a cork is nice, but I would happily give that up for less bad wine.
The Burgundians used regular corks for decades.
Did corks go bad or did something else change??
Are technical corks a cure for something else that went wrong??
The nice thing about using screw caps or diam etc is that you donât have to check the bottles before you go out for a day of sales presentations.
I guess if they could identify what caused premox and fix it that would be great, but in the meantime screw caps seem the answer and maybe DIAM, too. The latter lacking the track record of screw caps.
If you follow the links youâll see:
16 vintages under screw cap without a defective bottle from over a thousand TNs
Compared with:
31 defective TNs from around 700 TNs from traditional cork sealed bottles.
Oxidation is not just a white Burgundy problem. The Australian Industry moved on mass to screwcap in the early to mid-noughties. Problem fixed. A few of us bring this fact up regularly on this board but many people want to keep questioning why premox happens, rather than embracing an easy solution.
I actually reckon there is far more oxidation in red wines than people admit to. Screwcap fixes this. The adage âno great old wines, just great bottlesâ was coined because of corkâs variability.
Screwcap and DIAM are still relatively young closure alternatives (relative to how long some producers have been using natural cork for) so I can understand some winemakersâ reluctance to embrace them for their wines, especially if they command a premium.
As a consumer I appreciate winemakers that take steps in ensuring consistent wines and limiting issues like premox. Screwcaps and DIAM seem to be the prevailing solutions to many traditional closure issues. Iâm always happy when I find those nowadays in my purchases and I hope to see more adoption of them. Iâve actually started noting closure types in my TNs now because I now find it a critical element in my wine buying and ageing decisions.
There is an option on TCA free natural corks now. The downside is still 1) cost 2) they can still fail in other ways that corks fail 3) consumers canât tell whether the producer has spent the money on them or is just using regular cork.
