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Cork versus screw cap. Screw cap versus synthetic cork. Just when you thought the balance of power was tilting solidly away from the old standby (which has an unpleasant tendency to spoil wine by introducing a compound known as TCA), there’s a new argument for the old closure.
The AP reports that the renewable nature of cork makes it a popular choice among environmental groups that worry that a traditional, sustainable method of sealing wine is being phased out for a less earth-friendly plug. And there are also the cork forests to be considered:
Cork oak covers about 6.7 million acres in the [Mediterranean] and provides income for more than 100,000 people, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Cork forests are predominantly privately owned, which puts them at greater risk for neglect or sale for development if the popularity of cork lessens.
And the Rainforest Alliance recently began offering a certification system for wineries to verify that their corks come from forests that meet the group’s social, economic, and environmental standards.
Mar’s Everything opens up a sympathetic blog post by stating:
So for a couple of years I have rejoiced in the rise of the screwtop wine bottle, mainly because I love when ‘traditional’ elitist methods become exposed as a bunch of crap.
... and then wending through the reasoning for going back to cork. It’s a nice example of how facts can sway (some) consumers.
I'm so sick and tired of environmentless types looking to run everyone's life.Everything they come up with to save things
have many un-forseen consequences.Tke "gasahol,for iinstance.If the damned screw cap is better than use it if you want to and screw the busybodies.
I’ve been doing a lot of research about this since Willamette Valley Vineyards became the first winery to use Rainforest Alliance Certified cork stopper, because I work for the Rainforest Alliance and need to know the facts and also because my brother-in-law is a wine merchant and we always argue about cork vs plastic.
Here’s what I’ve learned: While demand for cork flooring and walls is...+READ
I’ve been doing a lot of research about this since Willamette Valley Vineyards became the first winery to use Rainforest Alliance Certified cork stopper, because I work for the Rainforest Alliance and need to know the facts and also because my brother-in-law is a wine merchant and we always argue about cork vs plastic.
Here’s what I’ve learned: While demand for cork flooring and walls is growing, the cork stopper industry is many times larger, so the sad truth is that if wineries stop using cork, the thousands of people who harvest natural cork along the Mediterranean will lose their livelihoods. Also lost will be this centuries-old cork harvesting tradition. And since the forests will no longer have much economic value, they will likely be razed...so lost as well will be habitat for key species of wildlife, like the Imperial eagle, Iberian lynx and the Barbary deer. If you’re interested in seeing some lovely slides of cork harvesting in Portugal, go here: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/news/2005/cork_new.html-COLLAPSE
As a 30 year veteran of the restaurant wars, I was thinking how much time and effort could have been saved if those thousands of bottles could have been opened with just a twist of the wrist?
Conjecture on my part, sure.... but it does make you think.
If the French are starting to use screw caps (and they are in the Southern Rhone and the Entre-Deux-Mers appelation in Bordeaux), then those...+READ
As a 30 year veteran of the restaurant wars, I was thinking how much time and effort could have been saved if those thousands of bottles could have been opened with just a twist of the wrist?
Conjecture on my part, sure.... but it does make you think.
If the French are starting to use screw caps (and they are in the Southern Rhone and the Entre-Deux-Mers appelation in Bordeaux), then those cork plantation owners better look for other ways to market their product because it won't be long. I would love an office made up entirely of cork! Imagine the possibilities!
The advent of the screw cap does take a little of the romance out of a fine dining experience, but I'd much rather get an untainted wine and marvel at how the artwork looks on the cork walls. The sommelier has enough to do as it is.-COLLAPSE
Screw tops for wine, cork for floors. Seriously, the screw top creates a nice hygenic seal and is extremely easy to open. Cork can still be used and promoted as a floor covering and other uses. I am glad to see many fine wines now coming with screw tops to "unscrew" the myth that only cheap wine uses the dreaded twist.
Just a little quibble with your info regards to cork "introducing a compound known as TCA."
The surprsing new scientific news is that cork taint, TCA, is not caused by contaminated cork.
If the winery, warehouse, storage facility or wine store uses chlorine bleach to sanitize or clean its shelves, walls, tanks, hoses, surfaces, etc., that releases enough chlorine into the air to interact...+READ
Just a little quibble with your info regards to cork "introducing a compound known as TCA."
The surprsing new scientific news is that cork taint, TCA, is not caused by contaminated cork.
If the winery, warehouse, storage facility or wine store uses chlorine bleach to sanitize or clean its shelves, walls, tanks, hoses, surfaces, etc., that releases enough chlorine into the air to interact with mold and *create* tri-CHLORO-anisole. This airborne TCA then contaminates the wine through the barrel or cork, which both “breathe”.
Wine chemists are now curious about the incidence of “cork-tainted” wine” caused by truly “contaminated” corks vs. the incidence of "cork taint" caused by airborne TCA that merely enters the wine *through* the cork. Very possibly, the way a Stelvin screw-cap closure reduces the incidence of TCA is simply by allowing less air into the bottle.
TCA, in addition, has several cousins that all have that musty, moldy “corked” smell and that are often mistaken for TCA. TBA (tribromoanisole) in particular smells very similar to TCA, with the same mustiness but with a “vegetal” component, for lack of better description. It’s difficult to tell the two apart. There’s also TeCA (tetrachloroanisole) and PCA (pentachloroanisole). All belong to a family of compounds called haloanisoles.
These three “cousin” compounds are created when common wood preservatives (halophenols) interact with common airborne molds. TBP, a common wood treatment, causes TBA, the taint most similar to cork taint. Wine is often stored on, in or near treated wood -- in the form of store shelves, home storage units, wine cabinets, wood pallets and structural materials -- creating the perfect setting for forming these TCA-cousin compounds that then find their way through the cork into the wine.
So the wood that is used in a winery makes a difference. What's more, high temperature and humidity in a place accelerate the growth of haloanisoles.
As you see, the cork may not be the problem at all. The problem may be that the cork “breathes” in the airborne constituents of its chlorine-sanitized, wood-treated environment. To address the problem, some wineries are no longer using chlorine bleach to clean their hoses or tanks or even wash their linens. Some are taking other abative, corrective actions regarding their use of wood.
For more information, please Google wine-flaw chemist Pascal Chatonnet who is based at Excell Laboratory in France or click on the haloanisoles link at ETS Laboratories in Napa Valley:
http://www.etslabs.com/pagetemplate/blank.asp?pageid=1-COLLAPSE