The good bad and ugly of wine closures.

The good, the bad, and the ugly of wine closures.

If you have never expierenced a corked (stinky moldy smelling) $100 bottle of wine you haven't lived. It's no fun to prepare for a special occasion and open the only special bottle you have and it be corked. There are a few reasons why this could have happened. Cork is a natural product harvested from tree bark; it may have imperfections and voids that allow air in the bottle, from poor quality control. Some corks hold bacteria called tca (short for a long scientific chemical name) which will make your wine taste like moldy newspaper smells. I have heard rumors that as little as 5% and as much as 20% of all wine shipped from wineries are bad because of cork taint.
The solution to these quality control problems is the screw cap (Stelvin closure). When you go to your wine store look around, you will see more and more quality bottles of wine with a screw cap. Screw caps are no longer the sign of a cheap bottle of ripple that the wino on the corner is buying. Screw cap closures have been embraced by lots of great quality wineries. These closures ensure freshness of the wine every time.
The downside of the Stelvin closure. Most wines marketed in stores are made to age till you get home. There is no track record for the use of Stelvin closures on high-end ageable wines. To bottle age a wine it must have some level of breathability through the cork, we just don't know how the wine will age. Twenty years from now we may open one of these wines and it may be as fresh as the day it was bottled. Only time will tell.
In my opinion some wines are supposed to have corks, classic wines that are made to age and develop should always have a cork, but if you buy these wines you take the chance of one being bad every once in a while, that is part of the challenge of being a collector.
If you have questions about different closures please consult your wine professional, but don't be afraid to buy a wine with a screw cap.

Until next time. Drink more wine.

Tim Miles – Owner Premium Wines & Spirits –
"Explaining the Miles of Wine"