Interesting new idea in the cork/screwcap debate

Gavin Trott · Post by **Gavin Trott** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 9:50 am

Clcik the following link

http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Daily/News/0,1145,2348,00.html

Interesting new take on corks, screwcaps and corked wines.

lantana · Post by **lantana** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 10:08 am

Gavin,

Looks amazing! Looks expensive! Does this mean we're going to have to endure another 10 years of testing & debating the pros & cons of a brand new seal? :roll:

The wine industry, it's never dull!! :wink:

lantana

Anthony · Post by **Anthony** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 10:14 am

Yeah agree! The public starts to get used to screwcaps and we say hang-on a minute, don't get too comfortable because the stelvin that you have just begun to accept has now been replaced by this glass stopper. If I was your average person on the street, I wouldn't know what too think.

I wonder if anyone know the proportion of australian whites know bottles under screwcap? Murray, surely you would know? :lol:

Cheers
anthony

Gavin Trott · Post by **Gavin Trott** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 10:28 am

lantana wrote:Gavin,

Looks amazing! Looks expensive! Does this mean we're going to have to endure another 10 years of testing & debating the pros & cons of a brand new seal? The wine industry, it's never dull!!

lantana

Well the world wide market for wine bottle seals is huge, how many wines are bottled each year world wide, many many millions.

I suppose with corks going out of favour, many many people are trying to find the alternative closure that will grab the lion's share ... big $$$

The idea of glass seems appealing, shouldn't hold any taints, inert etc.

However, it is breakable/fragile.

Should be interesting.

Murray · Post by **Murray** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 11:19 am

From my reading the technology of the Vino-Lok is equivalent to screwcap.

The actual seal is not glass to glass, but with a layer inbetween that does that provides that actual seal.

As such the pros and cons applied to screwcap also apply to this technology, probably apart from the aesthetics, and that screwcap manufacture and bottling for wine has twenty years or more development and this is still pretty new.

I also wonder about resealing part emptied bottles. Would putitng the stopper back in allow the wine to be put on it's side in the fridge?

My only real concern would be in the handling issues during the bottling processing. The robustness of the bags of corks and the screwcap blanks would seem to be an advantage here.

I wonder if anyone know the proportion of australian whites know bottles under screwcap? Murray, surely you would know?

I don't know anothony, however what I'm seeing around the shops it seems to be gaining prominence for 2003 vintage aromatic whites

Irregular · Post by **Irregular** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 11:47 am

"An aluminum cover on top is removed to reveal the glass plug, which is simply pulled out by hand" If the stopper can be removed this easily it doesn't auger well for robustness and temperature variation. Seems to me the seal would be too easily broken to be of any use for cellaring wines in the mid to long term.

Did you write this TORB? It’s aluminium!

GrahamB · Post by **GrahamB** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:11 pm

An interesting idea which seems to me to be a seal in the neck of the bottle rather than on the top as in screw caps.

The damage we see to some screwcaps is a bump on the top and the bottle leaks or becomes oxidised. This would seem to solve that problem.

What ever happened to the company in South Oz who were trialling a treatment or cover over cork?

Graham

Murray · Post by **Murray** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:20 pm

GrahamB wrote:An interesting idea which seems to me to be a seal in the neck of the bottle rather than on the top as in screw caps.

The damage we see to some screwcaps in a bump on the top and the bottle leaks or becomes oxidised. This would seem to solve that problem.

Graham

Graham,

I think it seals at or on the lip. Sealing in the neck is an inferior approach as the bottle manufacturing (ie glassblowling) process can't control the tolerances inside the neck, but it can control the outside and the lip of the bottle.

What ever happened to the company in South Oz who were trialling a treatment or cover over cork?

That's Procork, they've been doing work with Mount Avoca in Victoria and the last I heard they would be releasing a wine using the technology, I think a Sauvignon Blanc, but haven't seen any news for a little while now.

TORB · Post by **TORB** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 5:13 pm

Irregular wrote:"An aluminum cover .....
Did you write this TORB? ItÃƒâ€šÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s aluminium!

Hi Ian,

Nice to hear from you.

Our aluminium is the Yankee aluminum, like our Zed is thier Zee and our toma(r)to(e) is their toma(a)to. :roll:

sheesh dont you no nuffing!

n4sir · Post by **n4sir** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 7:19 pm

While we're on the subject on alternative enclosures, has anyone had any experience with the "Zork" enclosure?

They were displaying them at the Kangarilla Road cellar door, and they certainly look interesting at least - a bit like a cross between Stelvin and a synthetic cork.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 10:13 pm

some dud in the Yarra Valley has designed a round slime peice of metal to slide over the tops of bottles. rumor has it he has had them hanging upside down for over 3 years without any drips, drops of spills.