Subject: Corks, screw-caps, plastic
Tom and Marcy,
Let me share with you one of my pet peeves (and I might have already done this in the past, but..) - I am getting increasingly frustrated with the use of what I feel are inappropriate closures on
wine bottles.
My understanding has been, for many years, that part of the aging process of wine is the fact that air HAS to be slowly allowed into the bottle for any complexities to develop (along with
constant cellar temps). While I understand that quality cork is in short supply (or at least we've been told that for years now), I have seen and tasted a precipitous drop in wine characteristics
since the advent of the ever-growing popular plastic corks. The 'feel' has been improved when a corkscrew is emplaced over the years, compared to the earlier ones that were more dense and hard,
but...
...the fact remains, once bottled with these closures, you've got what you've got. One of the most hideous examples of this is when XXXXWinery started using plastic about 2 vintages
ago...their Traminette has become canned fruit in a bottle as far as I'm concerned...there is no aging going on there at all. While most consumers like to just drink their wine ASAP, and
understandably any winery wants to move product, the fact it is contained by un-breathable plastic, obliterates any chance for consumers to hold a few bottles to see the subtle aging characteristics
develop.
That said, I have no problem with wines meant to be consumed young to be bottled with screw caps or plastic, but I think there is a growing practice to do ALL wines in this manner, which to me is
a sin. In another vein, perhaps the wine will age more slowly using those methods, and last for 15 years or more, but who of us qualifying for AARP are going to wait THAT long to taste a Baco Noir?
(another wine of XXXXWinery that is suffering from the same malady the past few years).
I'm not singling XXXXWinery out because there is a plethora of wineries falling into what I feel is an unwarranted fear of wines becoming tainted by bad natural corks. I've been tasting a
few of my former favorites lately, and have been disappointed. I've experienced this problem from an occasional bottle with natural cork of the same varietal/vintage, and I'd rather return the
bottle to the store where I purchased it for a replacement than be confronted with a wine that has no life, because, without some miniscule degree of oxidation, we end up with dead wines
costing mid to premium prices, with no more quality or aging potential than the bag in a box wine...and sometimes the latter is better than the former.
Yeah, so maybe I'm waxing in a rant that no one shares this particular view with me (not to mention there has been a huge improvement in composite corks, some even with discs of natural cork on
both ends to minimize infusion of the adhesives added), but I feel there is a need for education of both winemakers AND consumers to realize that plastic or screw tops DO make a difference
in the qualities of a wine, and realize the differences in the purchasing choices they make...anything with real aging potential should have a natural cork, and we should be willing to roll the dice
on the occasional 'bad' cork...if we can wait that long to disgorge it and enjoy those wines.
Greg S.
