Of Corks and Screwcaps

In recent years, the wine industry (or at least some portions of it) have begun to face the problem of cork taint, which is the result of cork contaminated with a certain kind of fungi that produce 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). TCA can cause a number of effects in wine, ranging from a muting of the aromas and flavors present in wine to an overwhelming moldy cardboard smell. If a wine is corked, it will not be as enjoyable as it should be, and it very well may have to be dumped down the drain. The answer to the question of how prevalent cork taint is in cork-closed wines depends on who you ask: the cork industry swears that the incidence is less than 1.5%, while some in the wine industry cite 10% or higher. Complicating the picture is the fact that certain people are more sensitive to cork taint than others: one taster may not notice anything amiss at all in a wine, while another might not be able to drink it. I don't know whether I am particularly sensitive to TCA or not, but I do know that an annoying percentage -- probably 7% to 10% -- of the bottles of wine with cork closures that I open are bad. I suppose that the problems could stem from incompetent wine-making, but I doubt it. The flavors and aromas are just so off that nobody in his right mind would sell such a product. All I know is that if 7% to 10% of the product sold in any other industry was defective, there would be a hue and cry, with foaming-at-the-mouth exposes in the news and Congressional investigations. Not so the wine industry for reasons that I don't fully understand.

Nevertheless, a growing number of winemakers, particularly in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, are no longer closing their wines with corks. Some are using synthetic corks instead, but the most popular alternative to real cork is a screwcap. Yes, a screwcap. Screwcaps don't go bad, you see, nor do they ruin wine. But, you object, won't the lack of a cork prevent air from getting into the bottle and helping the aging process of wine along? Well, yes, screwcaps will prevent air from getting into the bottle. This is a good thing. Air ruins wine. It's not the air that causes aged wine to age. A properly-inserted cork is virtually impermeable. It is possible that there is something else about cork that allows or encourages the aging process, but Australian vintners, who have been using non-cork closures in their Rieslings for thirty years, haven't seen a degradation in aging ability from it. In any event, very little wine produced, even in the premium category, benefits from aging. But, but, but corks are prettier, you say; I like the ritual around cork removal. So do I, but not enough to pour 10% of the wine I buy down the drain. The single best thing that the wine industry could do to improve quality of their products across the board would be to replace cork closures with screwcaps. Let's hope that the Old World producers wake up to this reality sometime soon.

(Incidentally, cork taint can afflict liquor in bottles closed by corks, too. And yet the way that every producer chooses to announce that his product is upscale is by putting it in a bottle with a cork in it. Screwcaps are the domain of middle- and bottom-shelf brands. This is a pity, but it goes to show you that the consumer's perception of quality is more important than the actual quality. Alas.)