Natural Cork vs. Artificial Cork vs. Screw Cap Controversy

I have been doing research into the public perception of Natural Cork vs. Artificial Cork vs. Screw Cap Controversy. Though there is increasing industry support for screw tops there is a large amount of resistance from the public and wine purist. There are many cons relating to natural cork including cork taint, lack of quality cork supplies. Cons with Artificial Cork is plastic cork taint and difficulty of opening, Cons of Screw Tops included perception of cheap wine, bottle manufacturing costs.

I will be writing an article of the various ways to close wine bottle and wanted to start a discussion about the pros and cons of each form and what the current perceptions are for the WineLovers Discussion Group.

Your input in my research is much appreciated.

Rob W
Journalist / Contributor
http://www.okanaganwinereview.com
The Premier Social Network
Dedicated to the wines of the Okanagan Valley!

Rob, Hello and Welcome.....

A problematic poll for me and perhaps for others and that in several ways. First, and from an entirely personal point of view, one of my New Year's Resolutions was not to enter into further discussions of this nature. You need feel no personal guilt, however, as I have already violated that resolution. Second, related to the above and more seriously perhaps, this subject (like that of the healtful benefits of wine) has been beaten to death so many times that I wonder how any of us continue to have the energy to devote to it.

Most seriously, you have given only three rather cut-and-dried options. According to those we must prefer cork, artificial cork or screwcaps, and that elimintes the possibility that we might prefer one for certain kinds of wines and others for other kinds (e.g. cork for red wines that are known to age well; screwcaps for whites of moderatelly long but not overly long cellarig; artificial corks for short-cellaring wines, etc....)

Perhaps also of great interest, shifting attitudes towards cork vs screwcaps. Some of us (moi, par example?)
might even five years ago sworn to never, never, never allow a screwcapped bottle of wine into our cellars but have now acepted (albeit without joy) the screwcapped whites of some areas).

I gather of course that you are doing your research in a journalistic manner and not in an academic one, so that does relieve you to some extent of such niceties as statistical significance and replicability. Because of the limitations in voting options, I shall not vote on this one. I will, however, follow the progress of the poll with interest.

Best
Rogov

Rob, I believe you are going to get a lot of "it depends" answers from people here on WLDG, and not necessarily very good results from your poll.

Because, well... it depends. It depends on the wine, how long am I cellaring it (or how soon am I drinking it), how much I paid etc.

And also, not all alternative closures are created equal, of course. There are variations in method of production and composition of artificial corks. There are variations in kinds of screw cap closures.

Etc etc etc.....

Good luck!!

A problematic poll for me and perhaps for others and that in several ways.

Yeah. What he said. I should have just sat back and waited before typing!

But there will be others for whom the answer will be clear cut, usually because they have lost too many wines to defective corks and are not willing to continue paying the price. Screwcap technology has advanced to the point where oxygen ingress can occur at the same rate as a sound cork (if desired).

...But there will be others for whom the answer will be clear cut

Controversy? Is there a controversy?


Best
Rogov

I sighed when I read the title of this thread. You say you want to start a discussion, but this subject has been done to death, buried, dug up, done to death again and again.

The poll is simplistic, OK maybe for taking the pulse of passers by in a mall but almost meaningless for a forum of geeks like this.

What is meant by 'artificial cork'? The accompanying text assumes a plastic closure, but what about DIAM -- that's hardly a 'natural' cork, and what about Zork? And there are screwcaps and then there are Stelvins.

FWIW, stelvins every time, every wine, for me.

Not entering this debate

have fun

Here we go again, sigh.

Peter, hows the snow in Snorbens?!!

...But there will be others for whom the answer will be clear cut

Controversy? Is there a controversy?


Best
Rogov

Nah, it's been settled!

Peter, hows the snow in Snorbens?!!

Deep and crisp and even. Looks like 10 inches on the garden table, but I haven't gone out to measure it.

Minimal to a hardy Canadian I know, but quite exceptional here.

And there I was thinking that global warming meant winters would be thing of the past.

Your input in my research is much appreciated.

#@^&*!

That pretty much sums up the varying opinions on the wine closure issue.

[Robin Garr]

Please excuse the occasional rude response ... I don't encourage the gang to be unpleasant to newcomers (BAD gang!), but as you can see, this debate has reached the point where some of the group just don't want to hear it any more.

I don't think you'll find much support for natural cork on this forum, where the membership is largely wine geeks who understand closure issues and are frustrated to the point of anger over the random loss of sound wine to cork taint.

I'm relatively moderate ... I don't reflexively knee-jerk at the sight of a quality natural cork ... but I think the consensus here is strongly that the jury is already in: Cork is irremediably pardon-the-expression tainted by the threat of TCA; synthetics have not proved out for ease of use or long-term keeping over a year or two; and quality, sturdy Stelvin-brand screw caps are relatively problem-free and likely the closure of the future.

I don't think you'll find much support for natural cork on this forum...

Uh-oh, Robin... now you've done it! I'm telling Tim!

PS: I've had two corked wines already this year.

And there I was thinking that global warming meant winters would be thing of the past.

No, winters will not be a thing of the past. Global warming, as I understand it, means greater extremes in weather, among other things.

By the way, although I voted for screw tops, I still like natural cork once in a while for the romance and show of opening a good bottle.

PS: I've had two corked wines already this year.

We went from a TCA-free late autumn-early winter to 3 corked bottles in the last couple weeks.

This topic may have been done to death by us old-timers here, but has anyone tried to search the threads to winnow out the opinions of everyone here and make some sense of them? (I have not).

The mention of DIAM and Zorks is a good one. Then you have glass stoppers as well. Has anyone even seen one of these?

My vote is with screw caps all the way. Given the choice of a Penfolds Grange under cork or screw cap I would have no hesitation of putting the capped bottle in my cellar. A chance would be a fine thing!

And at 14:1 for screw caps at this time, I am a little surprised.

Then you have glass stoppers as well. Has anyone even seen one of these?

Yes. Stupid.

And at 14:1 for screw caps at this time, I am a little surprised.

I suspect people are taking as an opportunity to wind-up Rogov

...I suspect people are taking as an opportunity to wind-up Rogov

Moi????? Little old innocent me????


Best
Rogov

[James Roscoe]

Where is Tim when you want to kick somebody? Stelvins for me in 99% of the wines I drink. I suppose tree bark in the rest. I have had at least three corked wines this year.

Would someone please explain to me why a Stelvin Scew Cap is a better closure than a crown cap. Champagne is closed in a crown cap for years before disgorging. A crown cap is much less expensive and the equipment for installing crown caps is pretty much standard. Stelvin screw caps require special bottles and expensive equipment for installing caps. This can be a hinderance to small wineries (and home winemakers, like me). The only problem regarding crown caps, as I see it, is that nobody makes standard wine bottles that will accept a crown cap. Come on! If in the past few years people have given up the "romance" of pulling corks to emprace the Stelvin, I'm sure the bottle opener could be embraced.

Howie,

I agree with you in theory, but in practice I have had a few bubblies that were fizzless on opening the bottle cap. If memory serves the majority of them have been Prosecco. I don't know if I just had bad bottles, or if the caps are prone to leakage? In fact, i've been staying away from capped wines for that reason.

I've settled on Diam corks for my winery and have been using them since before they were called Diam. I haven't had any corked wine that I know of, nor leakers, and they keep the traditionalists (mostly) satisfied. So for those who were looking, here is the contrarian opinion. Does anyone else have any experience with them?

I sell wine here in Oregon and I am still at about 10% of all natural cork wines I taste are corked. I have just now past the 160 bottle mark of those with Diams. So far I have not had any tainted wines. I think they are saying maybe 1 in a million.
As far as the glass stoppered bottles, I have had less than 10. It will be interesting to see how some of the Diams do at 5 or 10 years as far as the development of the wine goes. In an average week I taste about 75 wines a week as reps bring them through the store. If I go to a trade tasting then the number goes up. I would say that about once every few months I have someone come by who has already tasted 3 or 4 people and the bottle is corked. I also get ticked at trade tastings where they open a bottle and don't at least smell it before they pour it and it turns out to be corked.