May 2016
Return of the Cork?
May, 2016 Filed in: Wine making
Many of us are familiar with the switch from corks to screw top commercial wines. At first there was a lot of skepticism towards screw top wines as the perception was the wine was inferior and lacked the romance of the cork, the infamous “pop” and examination of the cork. As more and more wines switched to screw tops, and the perception of the cork industry demise, the acceptance of screw tops has increased. Most Australian and New Zealand wines utilize screw tops.
However, corks might be making a comeback! Recent high end Sauvignon Blanc wines from New Zealand and other countries are finding a quality difference between wines sealed with corks and screw top bottles. Blind taste tests of the same batch of Sauvignon Blanc; found that sommeliers and regular consumers preferred the wine from bottles with corks to the screw top bottles. The wine that had been corked was described to have a better aroma and be more expressive, and tasted more like a Sauvignon Blanc should. Why? Well corks allowed some oxygen into the wine and this reduced the sulphur compounds in the wine. On the other hand, screw top Sauvignon Blanc seemed to be fresher. Now this maybe specific to Sauvignon Blanc, as it has been found that higher sulphur compounds give Chardonnay more complexity. Several high end New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc producers are now switching back to corks.
This is obviously a wine specific issue, and for the average wine drinker we will likely leave it up to the wine producer to determine the proper closure. But, for the home wine maker, this finding means more empty wine bottles to use for our own bottling. The screw top bottles often are not suitable for home wine makers.
However, corks might be making a comeback! Recent high end Sauvignon Blanc wines from New Zealand and other countries are finding a quality difference between wines sealed with corks and screw top bottles. Blind taste tests of the same batch of Sauvignon Blanc; found that sommeliers and regular consumers preferred the wine from bottles with corks to the screw top bottles. The wine that had been corked was described to have a better aroma and be more expressive, and tasted more like a Sauvignon Blanc should. Why? Well corks allowed some oxygen into the wine and this reduced the sulphur compounds in the wine. On the other hand, screw top Sauvignon Blanc seemed to be fresher. Now this maybe specific to Sauvignon Blanc, as it has been found that higher sulphur compounds give Chardonnay more complexity. Several high end New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc producers are now switching back to corks.
This is obviously a wine specific issue, and for the average wine drinker we will likely leave it up to the wine producer to determine the proper closure. But, for the home wine maker, this finding means more empty wine bottles to use for our own bottling. The screw top bottles often are not suitable for home wine makers.