Screw Cap Finish Or Finished?

WINE TALK
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FIFY

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The real problem is that ‘concrete studies’ are bound to be inconclusive. Speaking of studies, can someone point me to one that shows that ‘natural cork’ is the ‘ideal closure’ and will ‘work’ without issue for 20+ years on a ‘consistent’ basis? Please?

Cheers!

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Frank,

They’re guaranteed in any case not to have more than a minimal amount of TCA (<.5 ppt, IIRC), the number is how long they think they’ll age for. I’ve had very good luck with Diam, I’m encouraging my producers of relatively inexpensive wine to switch to them if they aren’t ready for screwcaps. Other types of agglomerated cork can be risky, IME.

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Google is your friend. screw cap study australia wine - Google Suche

Peruse the search results at your pleasure and interpret as you may. The first one is pretty interesting: http://www.wsetglobal.com/documents/diverse_australia_paper__cork_vs_screwcap_wine_australia_scholarship_2013__amanda_parker.pdf

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I may be changing the subject a bit, but since we’re including Diam corks in the discussion, what are people’s feelings about 1+1 corks, with the natural cork disk at top and bottom and agglomerated cork in the middle? Any studies out there on TCA in 1+1 corks?

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I have had bad experiences with ‘twin top’ corks, I am not sure why. If it’s going to be a manufactured cork closure I personally avoid anything but Diam.

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Bad in terms of TCA or oxygen transmission, or both?

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TCA. Badly done agglomerated cork can be the worst of all, apparently the bad bits can get mixed in with the good bits and the whole batch becomes corked. Somehow the solid disks on the end of the ‘twin-top’ don’t prevent that from being apparent.

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Is this still the case or have the co-extruded synthetics been generally better accepted than the old (and pretty much discontinued) injection-molded synthetics? I personally have never had an issue I could blame on a synthetic cork. I just cracked a fantastic bottle of Caduceus capped with a black co-extruded synthetic.

I am researching closures as I am going to start making my own wine. The following quote from the article mentioned earlier sums up why I wont be considering screw-tops and why I often pass on wine sealed with screw-tops myself:

“In essence, many believe that the more money you spend, the more ritual you want for your buck. Spending $50 or more on a nice bottle of Australian, French or Spanish wine, many people feel slightly cheated if they open the wine the same way they open a bottle of Coke. The crack of a screw top is not the same as the pop of a wine cork.”

I don’t trust real cork either. I have had corked wine and have also had corks break into pieces on numerous occasions. The synthetics (the co-extruded ones) have always worked great for me. But I don’t want people avoiding my wine because of the closure type.

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Mike,

Thanks for restarting this conversation. At the end of the day, you need to make a decision on your closure of choice that you are comfortable with and can live with.

There are pluses and minuses to all closures. You’ve laid out a few in your post - but there obviously are varying opinions on each of them in addition to the views you stated. In general, I believe of the three types of closures you’ve mentioned, the synthetics probably have the worst reputation in the industry - especially from those in the industry. That does not mean that they are bad closures at all - in fact, they are getting better than ever.

As far as screw caps though, you can find all kinds of differing opinions on this - many share the opinion that you expressed in the quote you used, but not all. There are many who continue to sway away from this closure because of ‘tradition’ or ‘prove to me that wines under this closure can age’. There are more and more data points that show that not only can wines under screw cap age beautifully, but that they do ‘evolve’ over time.

As far as corks go, there are plenty who continue to believe that this is the best closure to use. For those who are worried about TCA, there are always alternatives, including DIAM corks - they look and feel like ‘regular’ corks but with a guarantee that they will be TCA-free. I’m still not sold on them entirely myself - it seems that those who scream ‘show me the research’ look over the fact that the ‘research’ conducted by the manufacturer of this closure has not been ‘peer reviewed’ but is instead their own research.

At the end of the day, just be comfortable with what you choose - and move forward and don’t lose sleep over the decision!

Cheers!

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Two things.

  1. Have never had an “off” bottle under screw cap. Have had a spate of crumbling corks recently.

  2. ALL rose should come under screw cap. It is always (almost) drunk young and it is a tragedy to be at a picnic and have no cork screw.

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It has been a big shock to me as I moved from mostly Napa Cabs to Pinot and especially many in Oregon. It took some time to get used to but now it’s all good. I like the fact of the cleanliness attached and the hopefully zero percent of bad bottles going forward. Funny thing is that about two weeks I got a delivery (among many) at work and a coworker came in who is more of a Corona guy and he mentioned that that wine on my desk had a screw-top! (Biggio Hamina). I think the first one I opened was the Rasi a few months ago and I have been loving it all. I wonder if part of the non-attraction in a place like Napa is a perceived notion that it is not a closure for serous wines and we all know that us Napa people think our wines are the MOST serious in the world. :slight_smile:

Good thread.

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George Taber wrote an interesting book a few years ago called “To Cork or Not to Cork”, which traced the debate and research over the past fifty years or so. Very engaging, and surprisingly a page-turner.

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“In essence, > many > believe that the more money you spend, the more ritual you want for your buck. Spending $50 or more on a nice bottle of Australian, French or Spanish wine, > many > people feel slightly cheated if they open the wine the same way they open a bottle of Coke. The crack of a screw top is not the same as the pop of a wine cork.”

A definition of “many” is essential here. 2% might mean “many”

Frankly, I don’t think I would want to do anything with someone this superficial and stupid, much less share a bottle of wine.

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Exactly. I’m in this for the contents, not the packaging.

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Many just want a sound wine.

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FWIW, I had an Alto Adige Pinot Bianco closed with a Diam 30 the other day.

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I’ve just read an article which stated that over 90% of New Zealand wine is bottled under screwcap. Most of the corks are used in export wines.

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I would love to buy more wine under screwcap. If I were ever able to choose I’d choose it - for convenience and in particular the horror of corked wine. I appreciate that there are other causes but it has to be the most important one


Of course if anyone ever buys me a coravin my opinion will likely change.

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One would think that y’quem would be ideal candidate for screw cap. Same for first growths. If they start doing it, everybody will change.

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