Score One For Corks In The Screwcap Versus Cork Debate

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 25th 2007 at 12:04PM

We are back to talking about screwcap versus cork with wine closures. After I attended the Unified Grape and Wine Symposium I was pretty sure that the debate was over, screwcap was the future of the marketplace. But Decanter has some news that could change everything. According to recent tests conducted by Cairn Environment for Oeneo Bouchage in France, screwcaps produce the biggest carbon footprint. The production of screwcaps gives off far more CO2 than the production of both corks and synthetic closures.

Will this make a difference in how screwcaps are perceived by the world? With the increasing push toward green products this news could have an impact. Another thing that the article doesn't mention but that might also be a consideration is the recycling of wine closures. In that case I would suspect that cork might also come out ahead.

Tags: bottles, carbon footprint, CarbonFootprint, corks, global warming, GlobalWarming, green, scewcaps, wine

Filed under: Wine, Green

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Rick Dobbs Jul 25th 2007 1:22PM

Score two is that the cork forests are very well maintained and grown by the industry. The forests harbor some pretty unique animals and if the demand for the corks goes down, the forests will just be cleared. The forests support 42 bird species and 60 plant species, plus the endangered Spanish imperial eagle and Iberian lynx.

Organizations that you think wouldn't be interested in cutting down trees support the use of cork because the forests are so well managed and the fact that the outer bark used to produce cork can be removed without harming the oak.

With recent studies showing that plastic offers no real advantage when it comes to taint, there's just not much reason to support plastic.

Dr. Vino Jul 25th 2007 2:15PM

Deidre,

Yes, this is an interesting feather in the quivver of the cork producers.

But did you happen to see the amounts? "The production of screwcaps gives off over 10kg of CO2 per tonne compared with 2.5kg of CO2 per tonne for corks..."

Per TONNE? Whoa. Yes screwcaps are 4x more carbon intensive to manufacture but how many are in a TONNE--100,000?!? And the marginal difference between tonnes is the equivalent to two cheeseburgers--starting to seem like a pretty trivial difference...

Bella Jul 26th 2007 9:38AM

Having heard all the arguments on both sides I have made my opinions based on none of them! I personally feel popping a cork on a nice bottle of wine is part of the experience and that you cheapen that experience when you use screw tops. Part of the experience of wine drinking is that you use all of your senses and you just don't get the same experience screwing of a top breaking those little metal teeth that are supposed to guarantee the wine is fresh and un-tampered with. Another experience you miss out on is the visual elegance of a wine open correctly as well as being able to hold feel and smell the cork. I may be old fashion but I feel and will continue to feel that screw caps should stay in the industries they are made for soda and juice.

http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/

River Jul 26th 2007 4:15PM

The study did not take into account the CO2 that is sequestered by the tree which can live up to 200 years. Nor the fact that everytime the bark is peeled the tree grows new bark and sequesters even more CO2. So I suspect it is far more than the cheeseburger analogy. It also did not address the issue that SC are manufactured from FINITE materials that must be mined from the earth while cork will be available as long as we manage the forests well.

wineboy8 Jul 31st 2007 7:33PM

Just to clarify, the study refers to the tons of C02 generated by the production of 1 million of each of the three closures in the study. Yes, a cork or a DIAM closure weigh more than a screwcap but that does not matter with the methodology the company used with the study. Bottom line, screwcaps are worse than either of the two other closures in terms of carbon emissions and more importantly, are not made from a renewable resource like cork. Best of all, the DIAM closure is made from cork that has been cleaned using super critical C02 and has no measurable TCA period.

wineboy8 Jul 31st 2007 7:34PM

Just to clarify, the study refers to the tons of C02 generated by the
production of 1 million of each of the three closures in the study.
Yes, a cork or a DIAM closure weigh more than a screwcap but that
does not matter with the methodology the company used with the study.
Bottom line, screwcaps are worse than either of the two other closures
in terms of carbon emissions and more importantly, are not made from a
renewable resource like cork. Best of all, the DIAM closure is made
from cork that has been cleaned using super critical C02 and has no
measurable TCA period.