Screwcaps give faultless performance
Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 3:56 pm
In response to the other screwcap thread (Screwcaps taint wines as much as natural cork), I thought forumites may be interested in a study I ran at a tasting the other day.
In a preview tasting of 120 gold medal winning wines from the New Zealand International Wine Show, there were 41 bottles closed with natural cork, 4 with Diam and 75 with screwcaps.
There were no faults noted with the wines that had screwcaps or Diam closures. However with the wines that had cork closures, 3 bottles were badly corked and one bottle was flat and not of gold medal quality, however a second bottle of that particular wine, when opened, showed its true form.
The corked wines that were replaced were Lustau Moscatel Emilin, Castiglioni Chianti 2004 and Pol Roger Brut Vintage 1998. The other one was Schlumberger Gewurztraminer 2004 - unfortunately many people wouldn't recognize this as being affected by the cork. But the difference was so obvious on the second bottle.
In summary
Screwcapped wines detected with faults: 0 out of 76 = 0%
Diam-closed wines detected with faults: 0 out of 4 = 0%
Cork-closed wines detected with faults: 4 out of 41 = ~10%
I realize this is not a scientific study and it was only the top wines that were tasted, but even so the performance of the corks is simply not good enough.
Thumbs up for screwcaps and Diams.
Cheers,
Sue
In a preview tasting of 120 gold medal winning wines from the New Zealand International Wine Show, there were 41 bottles closed with natural cork, 4 with Diam and 75 with screwcaps.
There were no faults noted with the wines that had screwcaps or Diam closures. However with the wines that had cork closures, 3 bottles were badly corked and one bottle was flat and not of gold medal quality, however a second bottle of that particular wine, when opened, showed its true form.
The corked wines that were replaced were Lustau Moscatel Emilin, Castiglioni Chianti 2004 and Pol Roger Brut Vintage 1998. The other one was Schlumberger Gewurztraminer 2004 - unfortunately many people wouldn't recognize this as being affected by the cork. But the difference was so obvious on the second bottle.
In summary
Screwcapped wines detected with faults: 0 out of 76 = 0%
Diam-closed wines detected with faults: 0 out of 4 = 0%
Cork-closed wines detected with faults: 4 out of 41 = ~10%
I realize this is not a scientific study and it was only the top wines that were tasted, but even so the performance of the corks is simply not good enough.
Thumbs up for screwcaps and Diams.
Cheers,
Sue