The Auswine Forum

The screwcap vs cork ageing discussion has been well documented. Left in less than ideal cellaring conditions wines under cork will likely allow more air ingress due to cork expanding and contracting and may cause premature ageing/faults. We moved from Adelaide (passive underground storage typical of Adelaide) to Sydney and our wines, mostly under screwcap, are now stored in dark cupboards against internal walls. They are stored in boxes in large slabs to try to minimise intraday temperature variation as much as possible. Not great storage but best available ATM. There will obviously be temperature variation but wonder if being under screwcap there will be minimal air ingress and hopefully reducing premature ageing/fault. Or will the intraday temperature variations (hopefully not much with ac) have a more dramatic effect. They are intended to be consumed over the next 5 years and are around 10-20 years old.

Do you have aircon controlling the temperature in the house / apartment? If so, that's likely to negates worries for screwcaps, with the exception of the aircon failing in a heatwave.

My understanding is that temperature is a two pronged issue
- variation, which as you say risks affecting cork effectiveness but less so screwcaps
- absolute temperature, where the higher the temperature, the greater the risk of 'cooking' the wine / changing the aging profile

If the absolute temperature stays under 20C I wouldn't give it a 2nd thought. It may not be perfect, but it's also not a problem. If it gets over 25C I'd definitely be worried.

All very much gut feel / personal experience, rather than science-base though!

Hi Ian.

I tend to agree.

I’m assuming their mostly Shiraz and Cabernet or something like that because they’ve got a bit of age on them. I’d be concerned if it was Pinot under less than ideal condition for long term. That’s just my gut feel.

Cheers Con.

Many thanks for your assistance. The ac is run in warmer weather so most of the time temperature kept at or below 23C. We are in a unique area of Sydney where our weather forecast alway has a top temperature of 2C below that of Sydney so ac is not run much in summer. Mainly when it gets above say 27C. We actually use the dehumidify function more. I just hate Sydney humidity and crave the dry Adelaide summer climate. Use it more in winter to take the chill off a bit. Certainly a far cry from Adelaide with its scorching summers. So I think the wines will likely be OK over a 5 year period with any quickening in development welcome for screwcaps. I recently opened a 2012 D'Arenberg Galvo Garage and it seems to have not budged an inch which is quite frustrating.

My cellaring conditions are good and I am finding the ageing potential of screwcap is far longer then cork. I have opened up plenty of reds at 10 years of age under screwcap that I expected to be far more developed than than they were. As an example, if I was going to age a wine under cork for 10 years I would open the same bottle at 15 years under screwcap.

Sydney is fairly warm, the boxes will slow the rate of temperature change but the temperatures will stay fairly warm (compared with conventional wisdom).

Australian Cabernet and Shiraz wines are pretty hardy, and given the reduction of oxygen ingress risks from an expanding and contracting cork, I think you should be fine - especially for consumption over the next 5 years.

I would be titchier if for Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, or most European wines.