Cork vs Screwcap - Any Recent Comparisons?

Chuck · Post by **Chuck** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:15 pm

While in the UK last year we noticed a bit of push back against the screw cap. A Scottish restaurant with a separate wine buying section had a less than flattering large sign requesting all to reject screw cap and celebrate cork. It was seemed almost evangelical. The battle continues. I just was a seal that keeps the wine sound like screw cap but ages like cork. Is there anything out there?

Carl

TiggerK · Post by **TiggerK** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:34 pm

Chuck wrote:While in the UK last year we noticed a bit of push back against the screw cap. A Scottish restaurant with a separate wine buying section had a less than flattering large sign requesting all to reject screw cap and celebrate cork. It was seemed almost evangelical. The battle continues. I just was a seal that keeps the wine sound like screw cap but ages like cork. Is there anything out there?

Carl

I think one important point is that 'ages like cork' doesn't mean anything, as the variability of cork makes a consistent aging process impossible.

Polymer · Post by **Polymer** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 5:27 pm

Chuck wrote:While in the UK last year we noticed a bit of push back against the screw cap. A Scottish restaurant with a separate wine buying section had a less than flattering large sign requesting all to reject screw cap and celebrate cork. It was seemed almost evangelical. The battle continues. I just was a seal that keeps the wine sound like screw cap but ages like cork. Is there anything out there?

Carl

Ardea Seal. Chemically inert..looks like a high tech cork..can be tweaked to allow whatever level of ingress you want...it adjusts to temperature and pressure...I don't think it needs high humidity...

So for those using cork, you don't have to change your winemaking or worry about the headspace or do anything different (other than I think it is harder to insert than a regular cork from what I've read..or something like the machine needs to be perfect).

I'd be happy with the change to that...I have no specific soft spot for screwcap...It just seems like wine does age fine under that (from what I can see) and I'm not sitting there crossing my fingers that the wine isn't completely gone because of TCA or oxidation..

Chuck · Post by **Chuck** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 12:08 pm

A very interesting debate so far with no firm way forward that satisfies everyone. 2 questions:

There were comments on different forms of SC that allow varying amount of air in to assist faster aging. Can someone provide more detail and whether these are more widespread these days.

How does a wine become oxidized? Is it simply a bad cork letting in more than appropriate amounts of air? It seems more prevalent in older wines which seems logical. I don't experience much as sadly most of my wines don't last past around 15 years. Which again further reinforces my theory that there's no such thing as too much wine.

Carl

camw · Post by **camw** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 1:39 pm

Chuck wrote:There were comments on different forms of SC that allow varying amount of air in to assist faster aging. Can someone provide more detail and whether these are more widespread these days.

Have a look for info on "Stelvin inside" which is what stelvin are calling their liners which have controlled oxygen transmission. They were only introduced a couple of years ago so I don't think they are especially widespread just yet.

Scotty vino · Post by **Scotty vino** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 1:59 pm

camw wrote:
Chuck wrote:There were comments on different forms of SC that allow varying amount of air in to assist faster aging. Can someone provide more detail and whether these are more widespread these days.

Have a look for info on "Stelvin inside" which is what stelvin are calling their liners which have controlled oxygen transmission. They were only introduced a couple of years ago so I don't think they are especially widespread just yet.

Re: Cork vs Screwcap - Any Recent Comparisons?
Postby Scotty vino Ã‚Â» Wed Dec 10, 2014 3:49 pm

Found this interesting

http://www.amcor.com/promotion/stelvin- ... -wine.html

Chuck · Post by **Chuck** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 2:24 pm

Thanks guys. This indeed is very good news. Gotta love the mousetrap theory. Getting closer to the perfect seal. So the next questions are which is the best for long term cellaring and how do you know what seal is being used on each wine? Only problem is how long do we need to wait to find out its success or failure however overall I believe it will still be better than cork. Will wineries start disclosing which type they use?

Carl

Cloth Ears · Post by **Cloth Ears** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:10 pm

Have only ever had two side-by-side comparisons with cork and 'screw-cap' (both Stelvin). And both ended up with a resounding 'win' for the screw-cap by virtue of the cork bottles being tainted. This with wines less than 12 years old. And more and more I have found at least one out of each dozen bottles under cork being affected by taint. While the wines do tend to age faster under a cork seal (as a general rule based on observations of the wines I've bought and drunk) I have not found that they age any better or worse - other than the spoilage factor.
So, except for special purchases, or single bottle special occasions (where I can return a spoiled bottle), I tend to shy away from cork seals.