Wine Corks or Screw Tops...

 

There are a few things that can wreck a bottle of wine. Heat, direct sunlight, air and constant vibration are the culprits. Vines grafted, planted, hand pruned so that the sun can beat on the grapes to raise the brix (sugar levels), harvested mostly by hand, racked into tanks, blended, racked (moving fruit juices from one vessel to another) into stainless steel tanks and oak barrels. It takes about three years to grow a usable grape, that is if Mother Nature allows it. So with that said, imagine now all the time, care, $$$$ that it takes to create a good bottle of wine. 

Corks are harvested from trees and most of these trees are grown in Portugal. The cork is harvested in layers off the tree. The first layer peeled is considered the best, the second layer not quite as tight and air proof and then the third layer, used mostly in coasters and cork boards etc. A wine cork is generally made from the first and second layer BUT in the past few decades a chemical compound called trichloroanisole, a.k.a.TCA , a fungi has infected some cork trees. This compound goes undetected until it shows itself in a corked finished wine sitting in a bottle. When opened, sniffed and a bit of air opens the aromas it can smell as bad as a dirty gym locker! It renders that wine "corked" and unusable.  The risk was high so winemakers needed to find a way to make sure their created birthed wines would be not corked thus the experimentation with the foiled screw tops began. 

I agree that there is an ambiance about sitting at dinner and a wine steward arrives at the table, white cloth over the arm, waiters screw pull on the ready followed by that familiar "pop".  For some, they just can't get past the twist of the wrist sans "pop".

I just want my wine to fulfill my expectations. I want the air kept out until I swirl it in my glass, I don't want a tainted cork to burst my bubble, I want to sniff, swirl, look at its color and enjoy that sip. There was not a day that I worked in and around the winery that I was not asked what my favorite wine was and my answer was always the same,  "the last one I had"!