For those geeks who are interested, the Australian Wine Research Institute released a follow-up* to their important longitudinal study of closures, I found it fascinating. Note particularly the photo showing how wine oxidizes over time under bad closures, and the bar chart of oxygen transmission rates, which shows that the plain Saranex screwcap has the same OTR as a tight cork. Oxidation is more of an enemy to wine quality than TCA.
Thanks for sharing. Some other information to glean from this:
The variability of OTR of wines under cork was MUCH greater than wines under screw cap - be it saranex or saratin liners. As you said, that is probably the biggest challenge here. And it’s something that I alluded to above in another post.
FWIW, I recently had two bottles of La Louvière (White Pessac-Léognan) 2010, one with a cork, the other with a screw cap. Both had been bought at release. There was no comparison: the screw capped bottle had a lighter colour and a fresher taste, as if it was five years younger. The corked bottle was enjoyable but definitely on the old side.
This was my experience as well when I attended a Chablis tasting where we were poured a few different vintages of wine pairs, one of which aged under a screwcap and the other under a natural cork.
Almost invariably the screwcapped version tasted almost the same like like the new release, only showing slightly more age. The older wine was noticeably more evolved, showing some tertiary elements as well.
However, I didn’t see the point of screwcap, if the wine aged at a glacial pace. When I tasted the first pair I preferred the screwcapped version for its freshness and purity, but with subsequent glasses I found out that the differences between the screwcapped versions were minimal, whereas the wines aged under cork performed like I expected they “should” - they weren’t old, but more evolved.
If I’m filling my cellar with wines with an intent to age them, I want the wines to actually evolve and not taste the same they tasted I first time sampled them. I want my cellar to be a place where the wines develop and mature, not a time capsule which retains youthful freshness and vibrancy of fruit indefinitely.
Or maybe a combination of the two. If I’m buying a range of styles and price points, it is helpful when choosing a bottle for dinner to know something of what one might expect. And if having a few bottles under screwcap assures that the wine I’ve chosen will be fresh and youthful, I’ll be satisfied to keep a few on hand for seafood, apps, etc. But I agree, for the majority of my cellar, I align with you here and often wonder how to get things to evolve faster without compromising the wine!
On a similar note, a 2009 Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay (screwcap closure), while youthful and fresh, had developed some nutty nuances; albeit slowly and with perfect retention of balance. I was floored by how delicious the wine was and will be searching for more.
Whatever one’s preferences, having begun trying screwcaps in 2004, they went back to 100% corks, in 2015 I think, because the market had never accepted them.
It may depend on the specific screwcap being used and the time period in question, but in my experience, wines do indeed mature and evolve under screwcaps. I had a 2007 Grenache Blanc from Tercero a few years ago and it had matured significantly and in a very interesting way – there was zero chance anyone would say the screwcap had simply preserved the wine in its original youthful state.
I think there are studies from Australia, plus the Plumpjack and Tablas Creek ones, that confirm that view.
The “it hasn’t been been proven how wines will mature over decades the way cork has” is basically a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point. Wineries and customers won’t change their thinking, and so all the evidence of how wine ages remains with cork closures, which wineries and customers think confirms their belief, and around in circles it goes.
If we had never done it either way before and were deciding today how best to finish wine bottles, there is probably a 0% chance we would do it with cork.
These are too young to make a huge difference.
The real test is after 10 to 15 years …
. did they evolve and mature … or are they still (only) primary?
The ultimate dead horse beatdown! Let’s all make the same points and talk over each other.
I am also 100% team screwcap (or diam). I will swap any and all concerns about development for the agony of pulling a corked bottle all day long.
Yes, but a small public service announcement… Make sure the caps are on tight when you store the wine. We had some screw-cap whites leak in our cellar and that helped to create an excessively humid environment that ruined some labels with mold. The wines of course were all fine, but ruined labels on some very high end wine was not a good look!
Screwcaps vary. If you look at the bar chart in the AWRI survey I referred to you can see that the OTR of a Saranex screwcap is the same as the best-performing corks. I believe Saranex are white on the inside, while the more hermetic tin linings are metallic-looking.
