Screwcaps

"Daisy" wrote ...................

Daisy, you are not going to get any real argument here - I am not saying that *everyone* is a convert, but this subject of the pro's and con's of Stelvin closures has been discussed, on many occasions, on countless threads here on afw.

And lets be honest, some of the worst!!!!!

Just because a wine is bottled under a screw cap is no guarantee of quality - merely a 99.99% certainty that the wine will not be corked!

Here we do disagree - this NZer, whilst loving the quintessential uniqueness of Marlborough SB, believes that in time [20; 30; 50 years] - Pinot Noir may well prove to be our *showcase*.

Talk to many winemakers in Marlborough and they will tell you that in that region SB grows like a weed, and while a little science goes into harvesting at optimum sugar/acid levels, it is really a simply wine to make - in fact, it is a difficult wine to totally *stuff up* - so to speak.

But I do agree that Stelvin bottled wine seems much fresher than wine, from the same batch, bottled under cork.

Credit where it is due - Australian winemakers have been just as quick [no! - they were ahead of us] as NZers to embrace screwcap technology.

Again, your enthusiasm for kiwi wines is admirable, but we are not alone - yes, people like George Fistonich's Villa Maria Group [Villa; Vidal; Esk Valley] have totally switched to Stelvin - even in the ultra-premium labels - like the Esk Valley "Terraces" - and within the past couple of years even Cloudy Bay has switched to screwcaps - but only on their Sauvignon.

But if you searched the Google archives you would find that there is great enthusiasm from Europe which has been keenly expressed in this ng over many years.

Don't expect any great disagreement - don't expect universal acceptance - and don't expect the world to change overnight.

But, as the saying goes - it will happen!!!

So do I. Aside from Switzerland (60% screwcaps - but they put corks into the top bottlings and for export), Austria is the European forerunner for screwcaps.

A few links.

My article (in German) about Austrian growers using alternative closures

The abstracts of the Australian Closure Fund study comparing scrwecaps and corks::

Randall Grahm's funny video "Vive le Screwcap" ("le cork est mort!"):

Tyson Stelzer's handbook "Taming the Screw":

M.

Hi Michael - It's rare for Australian wine writers to agree with each other on anything but in the case of the introduction of screwcaps there has been almost universal approval - the same with local winemakers, and from what I can gather, with consumers.

A different case when compared with the Yalumba wine company's attempt back in the early '70s to introduce them in Oz. There was almost universal consumer resistance - "they look cheap" was a common reaction then.

Cheers! Martin

Any thoughts on effects of wine bottle storage on their sides, i.e., so that the wine is in contact with metal and/or rubber?

Of course with screwcaps there is no need to store bottles on their sides - theonly reason for this was to keep stop corks drying out and leaking. Theoretically the wine in a screwcapped bottle lying on its side will only contact the inert (plastic?) insert under the cap and will not be affected in any way by this.

Cheers! Martin

A message from J.Murray Fefferman Woild's Oldest Winepoison.

How about this

or

Is he the odd man out?

M.

Not only in theory, but also in practice. The synthetic material in contact with the wine is PVC (Saranex layer) or PVDC (Saran-Tin layer). Used in the food industry and in surgery for decades.

M.