We’ve discussed screwcaps many times on here, and the purported pros and cons compared to traditional cork are all well-trod ground at this point. But I’m curious how the apparent success of DIAM does, or does not, relate to screwcaps.
What are the pros and cons of choosing between those two closures? Are any wineries that were using one considering switching to the other? What are the cost and other differences?
Thanks in advance for sharing any information, ideas and opinions.
Or does it even make sense to think of the two this way?
I guess in my mind, both offer an attempt to cure the shortcomings of traditional cork, particularly cork taint and premature (or otherwise undesirable levels of) oxidation.
If I had a winery making, say, ageworthy chardonnay, I might look at these two as alternatives to traditional cork, and then consider things like cost, consumer acceptance, and how the wines will age.
I may have mentioned this elsewhere, but a fav local producer switched from being 100% screw-cap (apart from sparkling) for the previous 10+ years to now bottling 1 or 2 of his better Chards & most reds to Diam. I asked and his reply was basically he wanted to provide more predictable cellaring for some wines. He still uses caps for many wines.
I have a family member who actively prefers screwcaps, simply because managing various cork extraction tools eludes them. At least for traditional higher pressure sparkling wines, they can figure that out (without having to use a saber).
At this point, I think wineries are more apt to switch to DIAM if they have traditionally bottled under natural cork. It is an ‘easier’ switch because the ‘look and feel’ of the finished product will be similar.
In terms of how wine ages and evolves under both closures, the jury is still out. I think most folks have been ‘happy’ with development under DIAMs but my guess is that the development is generally slower, especially with the DIAM 20 and DIAM 30 closures.
The interesting thing is that that has been considered a ‘positive’ by many, though with screw caps, it’s been considered a negative.
I have personally found wines to develop nicely under screwcap. Am I ‘biased’? Well . . .I’ve been using them since 2006 and have been very pleased with the results.
I will say that wines can show some reductive notes under screwcap from time to time, depending upon the liner and chemistry of the wine. These elements tend blow off pretty quickly though.
Hope that helps.
Cheers!
That’s a nice summary from the winemaker perspective. Thanks, Larry.
Awesome post, Larry.
Is there a significant cost or labor difference?
Really? I haven’t seen this (I think it’s routinely considered a negative for both), but would be keen to see otherwise.
Slower development is always seen as a benefit when someone is drinking a bottle 50-100+ years old. So if you are planning to stock a cellar for your unborn children’s children, of course you want the slowest development possible, so choose screwcap or Diam 30 and store them at 40 degrees. For those who want to drink their wine sooner, I think there’s a sweet spot with closure as well as storage condition to ensure the wine develops over the 15-30 year window when you want to enjoy them.
Do we really know this?
And if oxygen transfer is really what causes wine development (not by any means a unanimous view, and certainly not my view, having tasted a few aged wines under screwcap), screwcaps and DIAM can be adjusted to any amount of oxygen transfer, can’t they?
To the extent someone holds this viewpoint, wouldn’t they hold it equally w/r/t both Diam and screwcaps? Larry is saying he has seen folks hold this viewpoint with Diam, but not with screwcaps — like him, to the extent that has happened (I haven’t seen it), that simply doesn’t make sense.
Thanks for the insights Larry.
I know the various DIAM corks have varying OTRs, and as I understand it, screwcaps can similarly have varying OTRs.
As a consumer, most DIAM corks are stamped so it’s relatively easy to look at the DIAM cork and identify if it’s a DIAM 5, 10 or 30, and thus the relative OTRs of each and gauge how a wine may age under that closure. However, I’m not aware of any such visual indicator for screwcaps. As a wine geek, I’d love to learn the nerdy details of screwcap OTRs to gain better inside into how a particular wine may evolve.
Curious as to your decision making process in choosing a particular screwcap and OTR and if you use screwcaps with different OTRs.
Brian,
What specifically haven’t you seen - that DIAMs may age wines slower or that the reaction to slow development under screwcap has been considered a negative by many?
Cheers
Andrew,
Interesting concept - and my guess is that you store nearly ANY wine at 40 degrees F, development would come to a grinding halt.
Just to reiterate once again, wines under screw cap DO develop, albeit perhaps slower than some corks (though not all, because development under natural cork will be variable based on the individual cork and its makeup) and do not need to be laid down for 50-100+ years for 'development. And this will depend upon the type of liner used, as I’ve said before.
Cheers.
Brian,
I get what you are saying, but have you not seen folks on this board and elsewhere lament the fact that wines under screw cap develop ‘too slowly’? If you are saying that you have not seen that at all or heard that from others I’d understand, but I’m sure a few folks on this thread will back me up with the fact that this has been stated a lot more than once . . . but to my knowledge, I’ve heard this as a negative towards DIAM. Not sure if that is clearer, and let me know if I am misreading or mis-stating something.
Cheers.
Rodrigo,
Great question - if you open a screw cap and the liner looks like tin, it is a tin-based liner allowing just a small amount of air to get in (almost all of my whites and my roses have this liner). If you open up one of my reds, you’ll see the liner is more white - this is a polymer based saranex liner.
Cheers
Hi Larry,
The part I haven’t seen is this:
The interesting thing is that that has been considered a ‘positive’ by many, though with screw caps, it’s been considered a negative.
I’ve seen people complain that wines age too slowly under both DIAM and screwcap. I have not seen folks praise apparent slower-than-normal aging under DIAM. To the extent you have seen it, I would be extremely curious to know if those folks hold the same, or different, opinion re: screwcaps.
Well, now you’re saying the opposite of what you said in your post that I quoted. In your post that I quoted you said you’ve seen people regard slow aging under DIAM as a positive.
Thanks for the information Larry
Just so that I can understand the permeability of various screw cap types better, are the permeabilities of tin and saranex based liners similar to other closures? For example is the tin liner similar in OTR to a particular DIAM 10 or 30? Is the saranex closer to a natural cork or other closure?
Do tin and saranex liners always have the same OTRs or can those change in specs based on a winemaker’s requests? If so, is there any way as a consumer to identify the different permeabilities within the same type of material a la DIAM?
That’s something I’d love to see more in screwcap closures. In DIAM, consumers can more readily understand how a wine may develop over the years based on the closure used (whether it’s sealed under DIAM 5, 10, 30, etc), but there seems to be less of that in screwcaps regrettably.
I realize I never did answer this. The cost of screwcaps is usually lower than medium to high priced natural corks - I am actually not sure what the costs of different DIAMs are and I am curious whether there are different prices based on permeability (5 vs 30 for instance).
The other ‘issue’ is whether a bottling line has the correct heads to be able to bottle screw caps - DIAMs fit in the same heads that natural corks do. And if you want to use the Luxe screw caps that I do, a separate head is required at additional costs.
Cheers