Uncorking the truth about screw-tops.

Mr. Mike Ryan of Gulf Breeze Florida asks “Do any good wines have a screw-top or are they only used for “cheap” wines?”

Well Mike while it is true that many “cheap” wines use screw tops there are many really good “value” wines that also utilize a screw-top.

Cork has traditionally been used to seal a bottle of wine because it was one of the few natural products pliable enough to keep the wine in while keeping the air out.  As the price of cork has gone up and up many winemakers looked for alternatives to cork to help keep the price of their wine reasonable.  Screw-tops are one of those alternatives.  Other alternatives are corks made of synthetic material, compressed pieces of cork, or a combination of real cork and synthetic material.  

Cork has gotten so expensive odds are if you purchase a wine less than $30 you are buying a wine with one of the cork alternatives and not a wine utilizing a 100% natural cork.

In many ways a screw-top is preferable to cork or one of the other cork alternatives because it can be engineered to control the amount of air that gets into the bottle something that is next to impossible to do with any type of cork real or synthetic.  A screw-top also avoids the possibility of the wine being tainted by any disease that may be present in the cork.  It is also a heck of a lot easier to open a screw-top than it is to uncork a bottle of wine.

Some parts of the world have just about done away with corks altogether.  New Zealand and Australia are established wine regions that produce some outstanding wines that almost exclusively available only in screw-top bottles.  

Most white wines don’t need to age so your odds of finding a good screw-top white wine are better than finding a good screw top red wine.

So with all these advantages why don’t all wines utilize screw-tops?

Two main reasons.  The first is that for all of its issues cork has an excellent track record of helping wines that need it age properly.  Top tier heavier red wines that need to age such as Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Barolo are rarely if ever sold in a screw-top bottle. Screw- tops are too new and makers of those high end wines don’t want to take the risk that their wines will not age properly. Secondly, for some people, drinking wine is as much about the experience as it is about the wine itself.  The reality is that it is a  special experience watching your waiter uncork a bottle of wine and not nearly as special watching them unscrew it.  (Click here to read my post about the restaurant wine ritual).

So Mike, to answer your question if you want a quality wine that comes in a screw-top my advice is to try just about any wine from Australia or New Zealand, any white wine or Rose over $8 a bottle or any lighter red wines like Pinot Noir or Grenache over $15. There are exceptions but if you follow this advice you will be happy more often than not.

Please reply to this post if you have any question or would like to comment.