Often a bottle of fine wine is far more accepted to be sealed with a cork than a metal screw cap, believing that cork is what guarantees a fine wine, not only is it more natural and textured, but it also allows the wine to breathe, whereas a metal cap can’t breathe and is only used for cheap wines. Yet is this really the case?
The function of wine cork is not only to isolate the air, but also to allow the wine to age slowly with a small amount of oxygen, so that the wine will not be deprived of oxygen and have a reduction reaction. The popularity of cork is precisely based on its dense small pores, which can penetrate a small amount of oxygen during the long aging process, allowing the taste of wine to become more rounded through “breathing”; however, with the development of science and technology, the metal screw cap can play a similar breathable effect, and at the same time, can prevent the cork from being infected by the phenomenon of “Corked”.
Corked infection occurs when the cork is damaged by a compound known as TCA, causing the flavor of the wine to be affected or deteriorated, and occurs in about 2 to 3% of corked wines. Infected wines lose their fruity flavor and emit unpleasant odors such as wet cardboard and rotting wood. Although harmless, it can be extremely distracting to the drinking experience.
The invention of metal screw cap is not only stable in quality, which can avoid the occurrence of Corked to a great extent, but also easy to open the bottle is also the reason why it is becoming more and more popular. Nowadays, many wineries in Australia and New Zealand are using metal screw caps instead of corks to seal their bottles, even for their top wines.
Post time: Sep-05-2023