The Great Wine Debate: Screw vs. Cork
Before reading any further, ask yourself this question: Would you prefer your wine capped with a cork or a screw top?
I'm guessing you opted for the cork option. There's something about a screw top that seems, well, cheap. But parts of the wine industry are promoting a massive marketing campaign to remove any lingering stigma about bottles that can be opened with the twist of the wrist, because they say screw tops are actually superior to the traditional cork.
Here's their argument: Corks can interact with the wine, causing it to taste bad. Wine experts believe that as many as 1 in 10 wines plugged with corks may be afflicted with this problem. Screw tops, on the other hand, perform well every time. (They're also marginally cheaper, although their real savings come from reducing the number of ruined bottles of wine.)
But there's something about screw tops that can make even a fine Chardonnay seem like a $5 bottle.
That's where the wine industry's marketing campaign comes in. At my own liquor store, a poster by the register explains why customers should embrace screw tops, citing the 1-in-10 statistic about "corked" wine. At a local winery, part of the tour includes a minispeech about the benefits of screw tops.
But the marketing campaign is fighting another powerful force. In addition to tradition, corks may be better for the environment than their screw-top cousins, because they degrade more easily and take less energy to make.
What do you think—are you ready to embrace the wine industry's pro-screw-top marketing campaign, or do you remain a cork devotee?
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Reader Comments
cork v screw top
See what an expert has to say here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/wineadventure_tips.shtml
It seems that screw tops perform better overall and are more flexible i.e. they can keep wine fresher and also allow some oxygen in, as desired, in order to age tannins.
Given that screw tops, like most things, can be recycled or reused, corks would appear to appease the "wine snobs" who, like most traditionalists, are always averse to progress.
Screw caps
At this stage as fine wine producers, we believe the screwcap is the finest closure for our wine. Not only is the wine not under threat of trait, but under screwcap I do not worry about uneven oxidation in my wines. Some people will always be change averse but if the wine drinker didn't embrace change they would still be drinking out of goatskin, sealed with a plug of clay.
A friend once told this story...
"Imagine if the whole world's wine was sealed with screwcap and then a salesman came into your winery and said.."I've this great new closure make of cork, the downside is one in ten bottles will be destroyed by the closure and a further bottle in every ten will suffer early oxidation but boy, it makes a great sound when you pull it out of the bottle."
Corks
I no longer buy wines under cork because so many of them are faulty (TCA/oxidation etc).
Anyone who think "there's something about screw tops that can make even a fine Chardonnay seem like a $5 bottle" is an A-grade idiot.
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