October, 2005

Vineyard Press Wine Newsletter
Cork Conundrum - The Final Verdict

 
Dear Wine Enthusiast,

It's been an amazing fall so far and, as always at this time of year, my mind wanders to the many vineyards of the world, wondering how harvest time is coming along for all the vintners. Imagine a sunny, cool, crisp fall morning, the sun beginning its climb over a rustic mountain-side chalet where you sit gazing over acres of vineyard. Bobbing heads move up and down between the rows, picking the bounty before them. This vision makes me want to jump on a plane and be one with the grapes, Italian-style.

Part of the harvest ritual includes the preparation needed for bottling and, of course, corking. This is the focus of the feature article in this issue of The Vineyard Press, 'The Cork Conundrum – The Final Verdict.' Do you have a preference for traditional cork, synthetic or screw cap? Find out what the hype is all about.

I hope you enjoy the new look of this newsletter. This is phase I of a two-stage redesign of my promotional material, including my website. Please feel free to send me your comments. I really enjoy reading them!

Have a howling Halloween and happy trick-or-treating!

Cheers,
Sandi

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The Cork Conundrum - The Final Verdict

It never ceases to amaze me...the twisting of the corkscrew inching deeper and deeper into the wine bottle, the click of my Pulltap on the side, the pull upwards and then....POP! This sound, bottle after bottle, day after day (or week after week for those less fortunate) is such a huge part of any wine experience. No cork, no pop!

So really, what is the controversy on cork, and why are so many vintners moving towards more non-traditional closures such as: the twist-off, the synthetic, the technological or the zork? Let's take a closer look.

We are all familiar with the traditional cork. It's culled from the bark of the cork oak, which is harvested only once every 10 years and comes from a tree indigenous to Portugal, Spain, North Africa and other western Mediterranean countries. Cork has beneficial qualities that for centuries, have made it the #1 choice as a bottle closure. It has remarkable elasticity and strength, and provides just the right amount of air flow into the bottle for optimal oxidation (particularly important for cellar-worthy wines).

Synthetic corks are becoming more popular in the wine scene and you're probably familiar with them in the budget-priced, New World wine bottles from such places as Australia, California and New Zealand. They are petroleum-based, and moulded from granules of raw plastic. Sometimes you will see them in zany colours of red and blue.

Technological corks, or composites as they are sometimes called, are formed with pieces of processed natural cork and bonding materials. They look similar to a natural cork, but on closer inspection, you won't be fooled, will you?

A zork is much like a traditional cork in that it's designed to make the same 'POP' sound upon expulsion from the bottle, but it is a twist-off.

The most popular of all the closures is the twist-off, or screw cap. These are made of aluminium and are certainly favoured for wines not expected to age. They require no corkscrew and no effort. One simple twist and it's off. Easy! Breezy!

"The most important thing to understand is that if you take one wine and bottle it with five different stoppers, you end up with five different wines," says Peter Godden, industry-services manager at the Australian Wine Research Institute and lead author of the most comprehensive closure study to date. But, despite all the differences between wine closures, they all share the same goal, which is to 'protect and promote conditions for the wine to better develop in the bottle.' And now we need to add, 'at a price-conscious level.' Now that changes things a little.

Traditional corks have two main drawbacks from the perspective of a winemaker: cost and taintability. A real cork can run a winemaker between 16 and 50 cents USD each, as compared to synthetic, which start at 7 cents. Technologicals go for 8 to 17 cents apiece, and twist-offs fall between 10 and 18 cents per cap.

With reference to taintability, TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole), the active agent in TCA-tainted cork, is what has propelled the massive switch to non-traditional cork closures. TCA is one of the most powerful odorants in nature. At its lowest level, it will mute a wine's fruit, and at its highest, it will impart the rank, offensive mustiness or 'corked' quality. Simply defined, TCA is formed as a result of an interaction between moulds, chlorine and phenols (compounds found in all plants). In an Australian study conducted in 1997, out of 120 Portuguese cork trees, 58 were detected with TCA.

But the most heated debates over natural cork are in reference to cellar-worthy or ageable wines. Some researchers and vintners insist that wine needs exposure to oxygen to develop in-bottle, while others vehemently disagree. What we do know, irrefutably, is that too much air will lead to oxidation and a bad wine. On the other hand, a very low permeation rate (oxygen transfer rate), found with screw caps, can lead to a phenomenon known as reduction, which smells of rubber, rotten eggs or cooked cabbage. In a nutshell, either too much air flow or not enough will alter the final taste of the wine for the worse.

No matter your perspective, the stopper is key in this process. Natural cork is porous, and many believe it is this quality that allows the optimum quantity of oxygen to reach the wine slowly – over a period of years - helping to make the wine more mellow and complex over time. Screw caps are known to allow very little oxygen into the bottle and consequently are not regarded as the appropriate choice for age-worthy wines.

My personal opinion, for whatever it's worth, is that traditional cork is just that...a tradition. And as much as its non-use may be profit-centered or just for the sake of marketing, change is inevitable in life...and with wine. I'm all for change, but everything has its place, including a lovely age-worthy 2003 Lafite with a traditional CORK. Not a zork, synthetic or screw cap. I shudder at the thought! Now that you know a bit more on the cork conundrum, what is your verdict?