Wednesday, July 23, 2008 11:12 AM
Cork vs. screw-cap wines?
Is there a difference between wines with corks and screw caps?
Ten or 15 years ago, the answer would’ve been yes; bottles with screw caps back then were typically of the cheaper, jug wine variety. But more and more reputable winemakers (even respected French chateaus like Domaine Laroche) are making the switch to screw caps because of problems with cork taint, and because screw caps like the Stelvin cap create an airtight seal that can keep the wine from oxidizing (read: tasting like vinegar).
Me? I've had great screw-cap wines, terrible cork wines, and vice
versa.
The only way to find out for sure: don’t judge a bottle by its cover. Crack it
open and taste it.
Despite the practicality, screw caps still have an image problem. The association with bad wine remains, and there’s no denying the romance of popping a cork on a bottle compared to the metallic scratching of unscrewing a cap. But it's not just a sentimental debate.
In the pro-screw cap camp, the argument is mostly about cork taint. Corks affected with this condition give wine a funky, musty, cardboard smell and flavor, and some estimate that cork taint affects up to 15 percent of the bottles of wine opened in restaurants or at home. Screw caps eliminate this issue.
Cork advocates say the problem with tainted cork is wildly exaggerated, and screw caps create a new set of problems with wine—namely, that airtight seals (including plastic corks) create such a barrier to oxygen that these wines can develop skunky, rotten-egg flavors and aromas. There’s also an environmental angle: cork-lovers say it’s the better choice because it’s a recyclable, biodegradable, low-impact, sustainable crop; bark from a Cork Oak tree can only be harvested every 10 years or so, and it grows back.
More than 50 percent of the world’s wine corks come from the cork forests in Portugal, and environmentalists also worry that if the use of cork declines significantly, these forests—home to several endangered and rare animals like the Iberian linx and Imperial eagle—will be plowed down for other agricultural uses, and the habitat for these species will disappear.
That's a lot of baggage to think about when you just want a good bottle to bring to a dinner party. Don't be afraid to ask questions; wine shop clerks aren't as snobby or wanky as most people expect, and if you don't know a lot about wine, they can steer you in the right direction.