To Screw or Not To Screw

To Screw or Not to Screw

Words of Wine by Brendan Moore

There is a lot of hoopla over which is better, corks and screw caps?  It’s a hot topic.  Let’s take a walk through the pros and cons of each.

Real Corks

Pros:

• Air=Aging: The air contact that is allowed by the natural cork, although minuscule, is a part of the aging process involved in red wines
• It’s natural: Cork is a completely natural product. The cork used in wine bottles comes from the bark of the cork oak tree. The corks are punched from the bark and then cleaned and sterilized (that’s the closest they come to chemicals) before going into a bottle. Nothing else is added to the cork.
• It’s green: Cork is a renewable natural resource, and the bark replaces itself by growing back on the tree ready to be harvested again in about 7-9 years
• It’s sexy: A real cork is part of the “show”.  (Let’s be honest—wine has always had, and always will have, a bit of show to it that many wine drinkers enjoy.)

Cons:

• Nasty?:  TCA (trichloroanisole) is produced by fungus and can grow in cork trees, causing great anxiety for wine lovers. It has been associated with causing cork taint, which statistics claim have been found in as many as twelve percent of the bottles produced annually (although I have never found this number to be nearly that high)
• Save-A-Tree: Wine production has now reached about 17 billion bottles a year and natural cork simply cannot meet demand, worrying many of over-harvesting
• Oops: Can break off in the wine

Synthetic Corks

Pros:

• Clean: No worry of TCA
• No oops: Do not break off in the wine
• Easy:  No change required by wineries in the bottling process
• Sexy (kind of): Still have a bit of “show” to them

Cons:

• Not natural: Synthetic corks are…here it comes…SYNTHETIC!  (With all of the focus on eating natural and healthy, why would we consider using something that isn’t?)
• Dangerous?: Some contain dyes that can permeate over time
• No air=no aging: Do not allow for natural aging
• Not green: Creation of waste and excess energy required to manufacture

Screw Caps (Stelvin)

Pros:

• Clean: No worry of TCA
• No oops: Nothing to break off in the wine
• Clean: No harmful chemicals or dyes used
• Easy: Ease of opening
• Everyday: Perhaps adds a bit of a casual side to wine (which it may need—think beer or liquor)

Cons:

• Difficult: Require changes in the bottling process by wineries
• Not sexy: Definitely not sexy, complete loss of the “show”
• Ageability: Do not allow for natural aging (Put a bottle of soda in your basement for three years and see how many bubbles are left)
• Not green: Creation of waste and excess energy required to manufacture

Okay, I am a little biased.  I’m a traditionalist when it comes to wine.  I am not saying that a product should be avoided due to its type of closure.  Make up your own mind!  These are just the facts; someone with a different point of view would surely have different pros and cons.  The results are mixed. For the moment, reasonably thinking, if you plan on drinking it now, “screwing” will guarantee quality, while cork is for those that want to “delay the gratification”.

However, since about 90% of consumers drink a wine within 8 hours of purchasing it, is it really that much of debate?  You decide.