The best seal

[larry_schaffer]

[TimF]

Screw caps have been around in California since the 1940’s, what is old is new.

True - but I continue to hear that folks need side by sides to truly ‘see’ how differenty the wines develop. . .

I remember tasting at Ridge several (many?) years ago. I asked about screw caps. They said that they continue to test them and do side by side comparisons. They preferred cork. Would be interesting to follow up with someone at Ridge again.

[KyleC]

I remember tasting at Ridge several (many?) years ago. I asked about screw caps. They said that they continue to test them and do side by side comparisons. They preferred cork. Would be interesting to follow up with someone at Ridge again.

Ridge moved to exclusively Portocork a few years back I think?

[K_John_Joseph]

Stelvin is the second best seal. Dude married prime-ish Heidi Klum.

[Richard_Albert]

After thinking more about the 1940’s screw caps, I wonder about their composition and the safety of drinking the wine they contained:aluminum, tin or lead, oh my!

[Mattstolz]

Stelvin is the second best seal. Dude married prime-ish Heidi Klum.

my wife watches project runway and AGT and anyone who tries to tell me Heidi Klum is not STILL in her prime is wrong.

but i do still think Diam is a better seal than Seal.

[Keith_Levenberg]

but to me the best seal for todays wines is screwcap.

A top notch white Burgundy producer told me the same thing but said that he does not use it because the market won’t accept it.

He’s got it backwards - the market will accept them the moment the top notch producers start using them. And even without that, many of us are already there.

[David_Bu3ker]

but to me the best seal for todays wines is screwcap.

A top notch white Burgundy producer told me the same thing but said that he does not use it because the market won’t accept it.

He’s got it backwards - the market will accept them the moment the top notch producers start using them. And even without that, many of us are already there.

Well said Keith.

[DougS]

but to me the best seal for todays wines is screwcap.

A top notch white Burgundy producer told me the same thing but said that he does not use it because the market won’t accept it.

He’s got it backwards - the market will accept them the moment the top notch producers start using them. And even without that, many of us are already there.

They would sell very little in France, which may be an important market to them for a number of reasons.

[Glenn_P1]

As a friend said to me,”if we had been using screwtops all these years and I told you that we should switch to cork, you would tell me I’m crazy!”

[Jay_Miller]

Screw caps have been around in California since the 1940’s, what is old is new.

But modern screwcaps which offer variable permeability are very different from the older versions.

[Jud_Reis]

One data point - did a blind side by side tasting of the 97 Plumpjack cab under cork and screw cap about 4-5 years ago. Pretty unanimous that the screw cap wine tasted younger and less developed, but was progressing and maturing. Might be that aging curves would change under screw cap, but well worth recalibrating if we could avoid corked bottles. I can’t think of another luxury product that has as high a failure rate as fine wine under cork.

[Kirk.Grant]

One data point - did a blind side by side tasting of the 97 Plumpjack cab under cork and screw cap about 4-5 years ago. Pretty unanimous that the screw cap wine tasted younger and less developed, but was progressing and maturing. Might be that aging curves would change under screw cap, but well worth recalibrating if we could avoid corked bottles. I can’t think of another luxury product that has as high a failure rate as fine wine under cork.

Ford Mustangs?

[David_Glasser]

One data point - did a blind side by side tasting of the 97 Plumpjack cab under cork and screw cap about 4-5 years ago. Pretty unanimous that the screw cap wine tasted younger and less developed, but was progressing and maturing. Might be that aging curves would change under screw cap, but well worth recalibrating if we could avoid corked bottles. I can’t think of another luxury product that has as high a failure rate as fine wine under cork.

Ford Mustangs?

Not a luxury product. Jaguars, OTOH…

[Jud_Reis]

MG’s would be even higher, so I guess there are a few…

[John_Bashford]

Jeremy you are spot on with this comment. I’ve never had a spoiled or unevolved ( in the correct way ) white wine under Stelvin or more recently Diam. My experience with Stelvin covers almost 40 years and at least 1000 bottles starting with a museum Pewsey Vale Riesling tasting in 1982. My experience with White Burgundy is pretty deep and I would estimate 15-20% bad bottles with either premox, excessive reduction (under cork) or cork taint.
If Chanel#5 or equivalent scents had a similar failure rate the well-off women of the world would have organised a consumer movement to sort that luxury item out. In another universe the defence of ‘natural’ cork continues. I’m well and truly over the ‘magic moment of withdrawing the cork’ !

[Jeremy_Holmes]

A few older wines I have had under screwcap over the past 12 months or so. All in great nick, and all developing nicely.

1998 Château d’Arche Sauternes (250ml)
2006 O’Leary Walker Riesling Polish Hill
2010 Jean-Claude Boisset Bourgogne Blanc
2008 Paringa Estate Mornington Pinot
2005 Jean-Claude Boisset Chambertin, Grand Cru
2000 Moss Wood Cabernet

[David_Glasser]

MG’s would be even higher, so I guess there are a few…

More sport than luxury, but true that they require masochistic devotion to the genre.

[Rodrigo_B]

One data point - did a blind side by side tasting of the 97 Plumpjack cab under cork and screw cap about 4-5 years ago. Pretty unanimous that the screw cap wine tasted younger and less developed, but was progressing and maturing. Might be that aging curves would change under screw cap, but well worth recalibrating if we could avoid corked bottles. I can’t think of another luxury product that has as high a failure rate as fine wine under cork.

Screw caps have gotten quite a bit more sophisticated since the 90s. There are now several options for variable permeability in caps that allows a producer to select their desired oxygen exchange rate and effectively select the ageing profile that best fits a particular wine.

On balance there has been limited long term data points regarding the ageing under screw caps with varying oxygen exchange rates. Would be interesting to see results on how the same wine develops over time under caps with different oxygen exchange rates.

[brodie_thomson]

A few older wines I have had under screwcap over the past 12 months or so. All in great nick, and all developing nicely.

1998 Château d’Arche Sauternes (250ml)
2006 O’Leary Walker Riesling Polish Hill
2010 Jean-Claude Boisset Bourgogne Blanc
2008 Paringa Estate Mornington Pinot
2005 Jean-Claude Boisset Chambertin, Grand Cru
2000 Moss Wood Cabernet

Some kiwis under screw cap as well

2004 Felton Rd Block 3 Pinot Noir
2004 Felton Rd Block 5 Pinot Noir
2004 Framingham Dry Riesling
2005 Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah
2008 Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay
2009 Bilancia La Collina Syrah

All in great shape and maturing as one would hope.