Screw cap or cork?

[The Dragon]

As a wine buff I am just horrified that a lot of wineries have turned to screw caps on their bottles.
I was shocked to see wine in tetra paks!!!
Where is the tradition of the bottle and cork?
Is there anyone out there who feels the same?

 

[simcha]

Cork can spoil and make the wine go bad.

I had this conversation while wine tasting up and down the California coast with different wine pourers at different wineries.

Some of them have gone to those plastic corks. Those are more expensive and they don't spoil. However, they're not easily recyclable.

Screw caps are an inexpensive and efficient solution. The caps can be easily recycled.

Yeah, it'll ruin the tradition of corking a wine and uncorking it. But, it will take some of the guess work out of knowing which bottle will be good and which one will be bad because of cork rot.

 

[ZOS23xy]

If you can't open a screw bottle cap, you've had too much to drink.

Perhaps to consider that cork has its share of problems, and plastic is used for the large amounts of retail cheap readily available consumer wines and the better, pricier brands will use real cork.

 

[The Dragon]

I've been avoiding wines with screw caps and plastic corks.
It didn't matter how many gold medals the wine had won it wouldn't find it's way into my collection.
What I think is lacking is the ability and knowledge of how to store wine in the correct manner.
The cork has been the prefered way of stopping wine bottles for centuries.

 

[D_Budd_Hert]

screwcaps if its for my fleshlight and corks for my ass ! lol

 

[D_Budd_Hert]

or wuz it corks ! for Dragonflies ass ? hmmm

 

[Drifterwood]

I don't have any problem with screw tops, though I view these wines as drinking wines rather than ones to lay down.

Tetra pack - maybe for cooking.

 

[simcha]

Wines age just as well with screw caps or those plastic "corks." And you have a guarantee that when you finally open the bottle, the wine inside will not be spoiled by a rotten cork.

 

[ActionBuddy]

You have to get real about it though... The wine industry is expanding at who knows what percentage per year, world-wide.., while the habitat for cork trees, alas, dwindles, and it takes more years to grow the mature bark of a cork tree than it takes to put a good vintage on the market.

It is simply a thing of the past for affordable wines. Get used to it or show them the money.

Onan

 

[Drifterwood]

Wines age just as well with screw caps or those plastic "corks." And you have a guarantee that when you finally open the bottle, the wine inside will not be spoiled by a rotten cork.

Are screw tops really infallible over say twenty years? I can see that the plastics ones might be.

I'm a cork sniffer, it's part of the pleasure. Pulling a cork also produces a wonderful sound, it's all part of the ritual as it were as opposed to simply swilling down alcohol. Snob perhaps, but that's what I like.

 

[gimme_another_inch]

I've been visiting wine producers a few months ago and I also make a small production so I'm interested into it, I asked a little bit around and I've been told that for wines to be drunk after a few months from the production the metal caps (not screw ones) are better than corks, also the corks are not used anylonger from some producers, they use sort of sylicon ones as they don't risk to get "corky" but I also like to have the thrill to uncork a bottle and to feel the smell of the wine, the plastic ones rip all the thrill away...

 

[The Dragon]

Are screw tops really infallible over say twenty years? I can see that the plastics ones might be.

I'm a cork sniffer, it's part of the pleasure. Pulling a cork also produces a wonderful sound, it's all part of the ritual as it were as opposed to simply swilling down alcohol. Snob perhaps, but that's what I like.

My thoughts exactly.
When dealing with a older vintage I like to decant the wine and let it breathe.

 

[simcha]

Are screw tops really infallible over say twenty years? I can see that the plastics ones might be.

I'm a cork sniffer, it's part of the pleasure. Pulling a cork also produces a wonderful sound, it's all part of the ritual as it were as opposed to simply swilling down alcohol. Snob perhaps, but that's what I like.

I completely understand where you are coming from. I'm on the fence on this one. I have been a wine snob too. I'm also willing to listen to the wineries when they tell me why they are switching to screw tops and plastic "corks."

I don't know if screw tops are really infallible over twenty years. I'm not sure that the technology has been tested. I mean, there are screw tops like the ones on Mad Dog 20/20 and there are the better screw tops employed by many wineries. So, I'm on the fence about screw tops.

Also, I do like sniffing the cork. That adds to the pleasure for me too. And, it seems that times are changing, and cork rots, and as another poster said, cork is in shorter and shorter supply.

 

[Drifterwood]

I can think of maybe one wine over $20 (that's £10 in the UK which is a big price point), that uses screw tops/metal. There's clearly brand expectation in the market.

I am not sure that the dampness of the UK and the traditonal cellar are the correct environment for storage of metal tops, whereas they are perfect for keeping cork from drying out.

 

[ActionBuddy]

That is all good and well... I would also love to live in a perfect world.

So tell me, where are the cork trees growing that will provide the cork bark for the ever-expanding wine industry?

Certainly not in Portugal... Ummm... the Canary Islands?... Mars?

Onan

 

[Drifterwood]

That is all good and well... I would also love to live in a perfect world.

So tell me, where are the cork trees growing that will provide the cork bark for the ever-expanding wine industry?

Certainly not in Portugal... Ummm... the Canary Islands?... Mars?

Onan

Good point.

It will have to be cork for the Classics, which will just add to the snobby bit.

I could see myself as a cork grower in Portugal. :smile:

 

[ActionBuddy]

I could see myself as a cork grower in Portugal. :smile:

I'd like to see your cork grow... :smile:

 

[Drifterwood]

I'd like to see your cork grow... :smile:

How about when it pops? :tongue:

 

[The Dragon]

How about when it pops? :tongue:

I'd be all for shaking up the bottle so the cork pops!

 

[ActionBuddy]

How about when it pops? :tongue:

Hmmm... are we talking about sparkling wines? :wink: