The Auswine Forum

Interesting article on heat affected wines
https://www.therealreview.com/2018/08/16/thr ... ure-tales/
summary

The German riesling under cork showed clear signs of leakage and oxidation. It was unsaleable.

Vinolok-sealed wines from the container did show some deterioration, although they were better than the wines under cork.

Screwcap. We could find no difference between the heat-affected and control samples

Food (Wine) for thought

Cheers

Interesting indeed and I'm not especially surprised, albeit with a caveat.

Logic says that the immediate effect of heat will put pressure on the effectiveness of the seal, and of the three different designs, we already know that corks can be pushed out by naturally high temperatures. Vinolok is basically the same fundamental design, but with man made components that allow for a more resilient seal. Screwcap has a very different design, and as a result the forces needed to break the seal and force the screwcap off will be massively greater.

Now the caveat. They've looked at the immediate effects. However what long term effect has there been on the wine being, if not cooked - lightly poached? Will it deteriorate over time, or perhaps could the heat even stabalise it, noticeably changing how it develops. Doing the same experiment with the screwcap wine, but then laying the bottles down for 5 & 10 years would also be of interest. After all, from the perspective of the punter (and aussie wine merchant), if the cooked screwcap wine deteriorates fast in the cellar, they've got an unknown time bomb (not unlike premoxed white burgs), whereas if the cork is pushed out, it's obvious there is a problem, and rectification / insurance can kick in straight away, and the wines pulled out of the system & disposed of. Screwcaps could in a cynical future, mean the end of refrigerated shipping to save money.