SCREW CAPS' POPULARITY PROVES IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE THAT COUNTS
It's been more than two decades since we first mentioned twistoff or screw cap closures in this column. At the time, there was widespread opposition from producers in Europe, North and South America — and more than a few skeptical consumers — but most of that resistance has long faded. Screw caps are here to stay, and in the last decade, they have made significant inroads at the highest levels of wine.
There will always be a place for cork-finished wine; in fact, some producers who switched to screw caps are returning to cork due to the significant strides made by cork producers to improve their products. This is especially true for those wines that need time in the bottle. The time-honoured slow oxygen ingress into the bottle via the cork has always been considered the perfect aging scenario.
That said, corks can still be faulty, and screw caps have come a long way, especially when it comes to allowing air into the bottle, so the choice is not all that clearcut. I thought this topic was especially relevant, with so many Italian producers in Vancouver this week for the wine festival, most of whom said they would never sell a bottle of wine under a screw cap but have now changed their mind.
The change of heart is worth looking at because, in the end, while the screw cap was all about preventing the sale of corked wines or wine tainted with the dreaded 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) and its mix of mildew, mould and damp cellar scents, it was quickly embraced by the most critical sector of wine buyers: women. As it turns out, few non-professionals can identify a Tca-tainted (corked) wine when encountered in a restaurant or at home. Still, any excuse not to use a corkscrew was good enough to set off a rush to buy bottles with the easy-to-use twist-off top.
At the time, New Zealand and Australia, fed up with faulty corks, were leading the charge, but another angle was to be played. The finest corks can have a negative effect on delicate white wines, and I, for one, would be happy to see the end of corks in all but a handful of whites. After 40 years of tasting, it is clear to me that shoving a piece of cork bark into the neck of a wine bottle can easily alter the flavour of a wine. Even the most expensive and expertly made corks tend to shave off, or at the very least, dampen the top five to seven per cent of the most delicate aromas and flavours in any wine. While that may be useful for big, rich, alcoholic reds, it's simply not acceptable when it comes to the delicate, finely nuanced aromas and flavours of white wines.
That brings us back to the Italians. If anyone's white wine needed a screw cap, it was Italy. As if they need any other reasons to make the switch, consider that in 2022, Italian white wine production totalled 58 per cent of all the wine produced in Italy. The good news is quite a bit of Italian Pinot Grigio is now under screw cap. Once that domino fell, screw caps began to appear on more storied bottles of Arneis, Vermentino, Vernaccia, Cortese, Friulano, Fiano, Nascetta, Pecorino, Ribolla Gialla, Timorasso, Verdicchio and many more.
The subtly of Italian whites and the ethereal nature, particularly of its northern wines, suggest they mainly benefit from screw caps that are not shaving off those precious assets at the top of the aroma and flavour chain. Add to that the attraction of not having to struggle with a corkscrew, which has given this category the boost it needs to become more mainstream.
Much is made of the romantic sound of a cork being pulled out of a bottle, but you have to be able to get the cork out for any of that to take place. When a country that speaks a romantic language switches from romantic corks to utilitarian screw caps, you get the sense that more people care about what is inside the bottle and that's good for everyone interested in fine wine.