News: French winemakers abandon the cork

An attention-grabbing headline, for sure, in this Telegraph.co.uk story

"The familiar sound of corks popping may soon be consigned to history as French wines start dropping the traditional cork for the New World screw top, whose use is rocketing worldwide.

"While New World wines have adopted the screw top for years - with up to 90 per cent of New Zealand wines and 60 per cent of Australian bottles using them – giving up the time-honoured cork has met with much stiffer resistance in France beyond the cheaper end of the market.

"But according to one wine expert, two of the world's top names - Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy, whose bottles can sell for tens of thousands of pounds, and Bordeaux's legendary Chateau Margaux – are now looking into screw tops. "

Full article here (right click to open in new window).

Considering that the French invented the Stelvin (Stelcap-vin) in the 50's, they should embrace it already!

Hi Sue,
Thanks for referencing the “full article”.

Salute

Considering that the French invented the Stelvin (Stelcap-vin) in the 50's, they should embrace it already!

LOL. I think 'tradition' won out back then.

[David M. Bueker]

One of the more interesting comments from the Neal Rosenthal tasting last week was his absolute pronouncement that he will never import a wine with a screwcap. He started talking about the romance of the cork. I (rather loudly) said that the romance was in the bottle. He stopped talking about corks.

Typically the headline distorts the article. It tells us nothing new other than that DRC and Ch. Margaux are experimenting with screwcaps, which I'm glad to learn, but don't think that the experiment will give conclusive results quickly. Boisset is not a quality trend setter, except his Vougeraie subsidiary in Marchand's days.

I don't think that we are going to see a rush of French producers into screwcaps and those who use them like Laroche and Lurton are likely to be cautious about forcing them on unreceptive markets like here in Belgium, where synthetics are preferred, perhaps for the plop!

What is needed is a campaign to educate consumers and I see absolutely no signs of one coming.

Wouldn’t the screw top further enable counterfeiters? I know that much is being done to track legitimate bottles of the best wines (coded label and bottle markings and many others techniques) but it would appear, at least on the surface, that screw tops are a step backward in this effort.

Wouldn’t the screw top further enable counterfeiters? I know that much is being done to track legitimate bottles of the best wines (coded label and bottle markings and many others techniques) but it would appear, at least on the surface, that screw tops are a step backward in this effort.

I can't imagine that it would be either a benefit or a deterrent to a serious counterfeiter. Sure, people look at branded cork as another level of security. But a teenager with could manufacture his own 2000 Ch. Marguax cork- branding is simple. If producers dated outside of cap along the break line, that would be slightly harder to fake than a cork for a low-level counterfeiter.

The latest View From the Cellar has an interview with Paul White, the anti-screwcap crusader. He's beating the reductive song, but I'm still sceptical of his conclusions, and am still pro-Stelvin,

Just last Sunday the waiter recommended a Drouhin Chardonnay or white Burgundy to a couple sitting near me in the restaurant. The cost was $69 and the husband expressed surprise when the bottle came out and had a screwcap. In the USA there is still a need to educate that a stelvin closing doesn't mean a cheap wine. (The husband even made a reference to Mad Dog or some such "wino" wine.)

Just last Sunday the waiter recommended a Drouhin Chardonnay or white Burgundy to a couple sitting near me in the restaurant. The cost was $69 and the husband expressed surprise when the bottle came out and had a screwcap. In the USA there is still a need to educate that a stelvin closing doesn't mean a cheap wine. (The husband even made a reference to Mad Dog or some such "wino" wine.)

That was ME!!!! Oh....wait. I wasn't in North Carolina, and the Drouhin didn't cost $69. And while I did express surprise regarding the stelvin, it was good surprise. Oh well. Never mind.

The latest View From the Cellar has an interview with Paul White, the anti-screwcap crusader. He's beating the reductive song, but I'm still sceptical of his conclusions, and am still pro-Stelvin,

Is he actually saying anything new? (A rhetoric question, BTW).

Sue, Hi....

You and I have gone the round on screwcaps in the past. Always nice to update. Alas, I have not updated. I have no objections to wines meant for short-cellaring to appear under screwcap. I do continue however to ask about wines meant for longer-term aging.

Much of the research, especially out of Australia, shows that screwcaps can hold for 10-15 years or longer. My problem is that the screwcaps that were being tested 15 years ago have little relationship if any to those being used today. Whatever, the jury is still out on long-term aging.

My major objection (and remember, I am a self-declared curmudgeon) is entirely aesthetic. I will taste and judge wines under any kind of closure and, because my tastings are for the most part blind, that allows no room for bias. When it comes to my own cellar, however, I will purchase a wine under screwcap only when my 2001 Yquem is dead and gone. And I did write about that wine that it would "outlive every person alive on the planet today".

Best (and smiling)
Rogov

Welcome Rogov,
Great to see you here - and still smiling ....
Interestingly, these 'news' reports always say that 90 per cent of NZ wine is under screwcap - but they don't tell you that 60 per cent of New Zealand's wine production is sauvignon blanc. I can only think of a couple of sauvignon blanc producers that still use cork and they are small producers anyway.
So, like the headline of the article is misleading, some of the stats are also misleading.
Cheers,
Sue

Sue wrote;
So, like the headline of the article is misleading, some of the stats are also misleading.

In the same breath, the same could be said about most “anti screw-cap” articles and “news” bulletins.

BTW Welcome Rogov!

Salute

Sue wrote;
So, like the headline of the article is misleading, some of the stats are also misleading.

In the same breath, the same could be said about most “anti screw-cap” articles and “news” bulletins.

That's journalism for you. Sigh ..........

Didn't seem to be anything 'new' in this news. We know Margaux trialled some Pav. Rouge under screwcap ages (ie. a few years) ago. I imagine any respectible producer (DRC) would at least be doing trials, and I hardly think they'd have much to say if they don't think data is conclusive yet.

I don't believe the ultra-conservatives will ever obtain the assurances they seemingly crave. Different screwcaps to those in use 15 years ago? - heck, they're not even making the wines the same way. Nor are the cork companies treating their harvest the same way.

There's a whole thesis in this cork-fetish thing, that's for sure!

cheers,
Graeme