09/20/06 Screwcaps

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran and today we are going to address the bottle closure we are seeing more and more often, the screwcap. It is difficult to find any retail wine outlet that doesn't have a least a few wines employing a screwcap as the closure. Although it really took root in New Zealand and Australia many wineries in the United States have joined the growing screwcap fan club, believing that the wines' quality and structure is well preserved. Wineries such as Bonnie Doon in Santa Cruz California and Hogue Cellars in Eastern Washington, extensively tested their wines under screwcap closures and are more than pleased with the results. The bottling technology is advanced and it has been adapted quite well to the wine industry. There is no fear of loosing a bottle to cork taint (a common issue in wines using corks) and many studies such as those undertaken by Hogue Cellars showed that wines under scewcap closure actually tasted the best. Since that is the goal it would seem silly not to use them. I think we as consumers are growing to accept and even appreciate the convenience of the scewcap. I have found that reclosing a scewcap bottle is simple and it seems to be effective for a day or so. Although more red wines are showing up with a screwcap closure the ageability factor is continuing to be studied. The bonus? I have yet to have bottle of wine "gone bad" under a scewcap. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at Vine to Wine dot net and thanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.