When did they start putting screw tops on bottles instead of corks?!
When did they start putting screw tops on bottles instead of corks?
Answers:
More than 30 years ago.....
You are seeing more quality wines with screwcaps now because it is a growing movement.
The reason over 70% of all New Zealand wines and a large number of Australian wines are closed with a screwcap is because the wine makers were fed up of their wines being spoiled by cork. 5% or more of all wines closed with cork are 'corked' - in other words they are spoiled by something known as TCA, short name of a chloroanisole called 2,4,6-trichloroanisole.
Does it affect quality in the long term? That is the big question about which there is no consensus. By long term we mean 10 years plus. 95% of all wine is drunk within a year of purchase, indeed something like 50% of all wine is drunk within 1 hour of purchase.
So we are talking about fine wines meant for long storage. Cork lovers say that the cork allows a minute quantity of air into the bottle over time and that is essential to aging. Screwcap lovers say that wines aged 20+ years under screwcap taste better and fresher than the same wine undercork - and 5% of those under cork are spoiled anyway.
You can keep the bottle under screwcap upright.
Some people say the reason for changingto screwcap is because it is cheaper - but that is not so. WIneries have to upgrade their bottling lines to do screwcapping and they are limited in the bottles they can buy because there are fewer with a thread at the top.
Some have mentioned artificial 'plastic' corks. Where there is continious development of these, so far they have not proved ideal since they lose elasticity over a couple of years, letting in air which spoild the wine. Also they are difficult to remove and almost impossible to put back in.
Screw caps are good. They are easy to remove and put back, you don't need a corkscrew and you taste the wine inside without any cork taint.
Source(s):
see my profile
in the 80s, I do believe, it is more hygenic than corks, and studies have shown it does not alter the taste, only the experience.
Wineries like them because it leads to no bottles being discarded due to cork rot.
The cool thing now is a 'zork' top, you can find it in Hey Mambo and La Bon Vin labels, its kinda like both, only the plastic 'cork' can be re-used for other bottles.
It's cheaper than corking and more reliable. I think some wineries were sick of losing some bottles to bad corks and also like being able to get rid of the corking process and save money. It's not the best for long term storage as the cap could dry out and allow too much oxygen in. Plus it's not in the true tradition of wine making.