screwcap

France Fights To Keep The Cork

Filed under: Wine

The rise of the screwcap and plastic stoppers for wine bottles has continue but not without some grumbles from the the French. The Telegraph reports that France's cork federation is going on the offensive with a poster campaign that features wine and champagne bottles with outlandish alternative stoppers like a plastic duck and the slogan: "Always imitated, never equaled."

The federation also points to a recent poll that says that almost nine out of ten French people prefer the traditional stopper. Real cork remains associated with quality wine, well-preserved aromas and long conservation despite the fact that many critics say the screwcap is, and should be, the new standard for ease of use and preventing the dreaded cork taint. Even the emperor of wine, Robert Parker has said that he thinks that only great wines that are meant to age for years will be cork topped in the future.

One advantage of cork production is the green factor. Cork topper production produces less carbon emissions than the production of plastic and screw tops. More importantly the cork industry supports the cork oak forests of Portugal and Spain which are a home for wildlife.

Tags: cork, cork forests, france, screwcap, wine

The Disappearing Cork Forests Of Portugal

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

For a couple years now the wine industry has been moving toward more screwcaps but there are some good reasons that the pendulum may shift again.. A study by The World Wildlife Fund shows that up to three quarters of the Mediterranean's cork forests could be lost within 10 years if the trend for plastic stoppers and screw tops continues. A BBC Natural World documentary highlights the fact that these forests also support rare species such as Iberian lynx, black storks and booted eagles which are already disappearing in some areas. Because the farmers can no longer make as much money from cork harvest they have been ripping up the trees in order to grow alternative crops that will provide more ready cash. But the land that the cork oaks are on sometimes turns into a desert when the trees are removed. According to an article in the Telegraph, in the Algarve, Portugal, cork forests have declined by 28 per cent in the past 10 years. The cork industry in Portugal is now attempting to fight back and has introduced new methods to protect against cork taint and are trying to bring increased attention to the industry through public service announcements.

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Tags: cork, screwcap, wine

French Winemakers Are Abandoning The Cork

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

While many New World wineries have embraced the screwcap (most New Zealand and Australian wines are screwcap and many U.S. wines are too), the French winemakers have been slow to adopt them. The Telegraph reports that may be about to change. According to one wine expert both Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy and Bordeaux's Chateau Margaux are thinking of going screwcap. This is huge news since these are two very recognizable and lauded brands. The director general of Chateau Margaux, Paul Pontallier says they have been doing tests for a few years but are not certain if they will use the screwcaps because their wines are meant to be stored for long periods, there is some debate over whether or not screwcaps are optimal for wines that are best aged.

One of Burgundy's best-known producers, Jean-Claude Boisset is using them on approximately a third of their wines including the Chambertin grand cru 2005, which sells for almost £100 a bottle. They feel that the screwcap is great for wines that will be aged because they protect the wine from oxidation better than a cork can. The Larouche wine group in Burgundy has also started using screw tops on its highest end wine, the Réserve de l'Obédiance, but still prefers the cork for red wines that will be aged.

The emperor of wine has also weighed in. Wine critic Robert Parker says wines bottled with corks will be in the minority by 2015 and that only wines meant to sit in cellar for decades will be topped by a cork. While the cork will always have romantic appeal, the realities of the wine business and the growing customer acceptance of screwcaps seem to have sealed its fate.

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Tags: corks, french wine, screw top, screwcap, wine

Reporting FromThe Unified Grape & Wine Symposium: Screwcap Versus Cork, Is The Debate Already Over?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

I've covered the screwcap versus cork debate on this blog a number of times (yes, there are other closures but in the end it really does come down to these main two). In my thoughts on natural cork, I've wondered about cork taint, pondered the implicit romantic nature and the history of the cork and made my peace with the fact that some damn fine wines can come out of a screwcap bottle.

There is one thing I didn't consider which I realized during the Unified Grape & Wine Symposium panel on Closures which is that I might not even be able to recognize cork taint in small percentages and that in some cases it might not be such a big deal. Knowing that 2 to 5% of bottles get hit with a bit of TCA (the stuff that causes the musty, moldiness known as cork taint) averages would indicated that I have opened many tainted bottles. And yet I can only remember a few cases in which I was certain the wine was corked. I think I know what cork taint is but I may actually have no idea at all.

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Tags: closures, cork, screwcap, unified wine and grape symposium, UnifiedWineAndGrapeSymposium, wine, wineries

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