Cork and Corkscrew Cartoon I Wont See You Again
At Penfolds, one of Australia'south most well-known wine brands, the bottling line is an elaborate functioning, specially its final stage: the seal. While its white wine range is closed with spiral caps, the reds receive different stoppers based on where they are exported.
In Australia, the majority of Penfolds's scarlet wines, which include offerings priced well into triple digits, are sealed by screw cap. In the U.S. market, however, those aforementioned wines are sealed nether natural cork. Why? Because many Americans yet believe screw caps signify low-quality vino.
As the saying goes, you shouldn't approximate a book by its cover. Only should you lot guess a vino by its closure? Cultural preconceptions aside, the stopper tin can tell a neat deal about the vino it encloses. It tin hint at longevity, quality, civilization and history.
We spend the most of our fourth dimension focused on what lies within the canteen. For one time, let'due south get to know what sits above it. Hither'southward your guide to the world's nearly popular wine closures.
Cork
The earth'south nigh widely used wine closure has been around for a while. Prove of its usage dates back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. However, the close-fitting stopper we're familiar with wasn't popularized until the 18th century, in conjunction with the first user-friendly corkscrew.
Pros:
Renewable resource. Cork is derived from the bark of Quercus suber, also known every bit the cork oak tree. These evergreens, the majority of which grow in Portugal and Espana, are abundant and strictly protected. Cork oaks regenerate their outer layer of bawl, which allows them to exist harvested about in one case every decade. With a lifespan of up to 200 years, i tree can provide cork for thousands of bottles, which makes it the most ecologically sound material to seal a bottle.
Tradition. At that place's something romantic and ceremonial most popping a wine cork. The visceral ritual helps cork retain its authority, fifty-fifty in the face of strong competition.
Cellar worthiness. Thanks to its elasticity, cork expands within a clogging to seal liquid in and proceed oxygen out. Its tiny pores, withal, permit minuscule amounts of air to collaborate with the wine, which can transform the aroma and flavor over fourth dimension. This makes cork the height selection for producers of ageworthy wines.
Cons:
Susceptible to taint. The chemic compound 2,four,6-trichloroanisole, or TCA, affects mostly forest-derived materials, which makes it cork'south worst enemy. It'south caused when chlorine comes into contact with certain fungi during the cork's processing. While harmless, the compound can transfer to the wine and cause aromas of wet cardboard, damp basement or wet dog. Known as "cork taint," or simply being "corked," past studies have estimated that TCA affects upwards to 10% of wines nether cork.
Cork taint, yet, could shortly be a matter of the by. Recently several companies—including the worlds biggest cork producer, Amorim—have unveiled new methods to remove TCA from their natural cork closures, effectively eliminating cork taint from their production.
Variability. Cork is a natural product, and each is slightly dissimilar. Cork brands and their porousness vary, which affects the charge per unit at which air interacts with the wine in the bottle. Some corks can too impart a woody flavor to the wine. While winemakers choose corks carefully, there's e'er an element of the unknown.
Fragility. Cork is made from wood, which dries out and crumbles with time. Wines cellared for long periods of time must be kept on their sides to go on the cork damp. But even with careful cellaring, how many of us have fished the remains of a crumbled cork out of our wine after it breaks on its way out of the canteen?
Cost. Depending on the quality and brand, corks can be upwardly to 3 times equally expensive every bit screw caps, which tin can drive up the last cost of the wine.
Frankenstein corks
Not all corks are cut from the same cloth. Meet natural cork's quirky cousins.
Micro-Agglomerated. Demand for micro-agglomerated corks, also known as "technical" or "composite" corks, is steeply ascension. At its simplest, an agglomerated stopper is like a cork-particle board, where granulated cork dust is bound together tightly past glue or a plant-based binder and pressure. Some agglomerated corks should only be used with wines destined to be consumed young as they tend to break downward more quickly. Just other more premium stoppers stand the test of time. One leading micro-agglomerated cork producer, French-based visitor Diam, makes corks that are costless from TCA, impart no flavor, and control the level of oxygen released into the wine. This consistency makes them an attractive choice for many cork-loving winemakers.
Agglomerated. It's like cork-particle board, where granulated cork dust is bound together tightly past glue and pressure. Agglomerated corks should only be used with wines destined to be consumed young as they tend to suspension down more rapidly. Cork producer Amorim suggests wines sealed with these blended closures be consumed within six months of bottling, though premium options practise exist that let for longer aging.
Colmated. Fabricated from medium-course natural cork, the crevices in these closures are filled in with fine cork powder. It gives the cork a softer texture and smoother exit out of the canteen. Wines can age up to a few years under colmated cork.
Multi-slice. When two or more pieces of cork are glued together. Examples include Champagne corks, which expand upon removal and cannot be placed back into the bottle. Other producers too affix discs of natural cork to the ends of agglomerated cork in still-vino enclosures, in order to increase immovability. These corks are oft fabricated from the manufacturer's bark "scraps."
Screw cap
After centuries of unrivaled wine stopper bliss, an unassuming aluminum cap came along and, well, screwed up everything for the humble cork. The Aussies are to blame for stirring the pot.
In 1964, Peter Wall, former managing director of S Australian winery Yalumba, became fed up with the number of tainted corks in circulation. He commissioned a French company to develop an alternative closure. An aluminum cap, the "Stelvin," was born, although it wasn't patented or used commercially until the late 1970s.
40-plus years later, screw caps are the closure of option for the majority of Australian and New Zealand producers, across all styles and price points. It consists of an aluminum cap lined with plastic, which integrates a metal brim that hugs the top of the bottleneck, just like a traditional stopper's foil.
Pros:
Consistency. TCA, the taint that affects so many wines under natural cork, is almost nonexistent nether screw cap. Also, because there'southward less oxygen interaction with wines in comparing to cork, winemakers tin can theoretically reduce the corporeality of sulfur dioxide used as an antioxidant before bottling.
Longevity. Considering wines under screw cap reside in a relatively oxygen-complimentary atmosphere, they're believed to exist longer lived. Though long-term studies have shown positive results, it's a controversial topic inside the vino industry. Some fence that with limited oxygen contact, wines under screw cap don't age at all. Others, like Jeffrey Grosset, possessor of Grosset Wines in Due south Australia's Clare Valley, say that spiral cap enclosed wines age beautifully, but more than slowly.
Affordability. Screw caps can vary in price, depending on quality. Generally, still, they're cheaper than natural cork.
Easy to open up . Screw caps open with a simple twist of the wrist. There'south no demand for any gadgets beyond a gratis mitt and a picayune muscle.
Cons:
Negative ecology impacts. Screw caps are made from aluminum, which is often produced from a strip-mined ore chosen bauxite. Processing aluminum can be a muddy procedure, negatively impacting the air and water and generating nigh 70 meg tons of waste matter annually. Aluminum is non-biodegradable, and though it tin can exist recycled, it'due south suspected that most screw caps cease up in the trash, and individual waste matter management companies have their own internal guidelines on whether or not screwcaps are accepted equally recyclable. Their plastic liners, if not removed, can also make recycling impossible.
Most screw cap liners are fabricated from Polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), a plastic that's unsustainable and toxic when burned. Some, like the California Function of Ecology Health Gamble Assessment, besides consider it to pose possible health risks. It's been banned or restricted in a number of countries in Western Europe. Amcor, the company that makes Stelvin spiral caps, recently released a PVDC-gratis range targeting countries similar Germany which have restricted the textile. It'south still allowed in the U.South.
Prone to reduction. The opposite of an oxidized vino is a reductive ane, or a wine in which there is minimal contact with oxygen during the production process. This tin happen when a wine's sulfur dioxide levels are also high and is characterized by telltale rotten egg/oniony aromas. The topic of reduction in spiral-capped wines can be divisive, simply it'due south more often than not agreed that the plastic-lined seal itself doesn't cause these undesirable characteristics. However, the seal can prevent additives like sulfur from being absorbed into the vino the way a more than porous cork would, exacerbating the effects.
Questionable crumbling ability. Cork versus screw cap aging has passionate advocates on both sides. Cork proponents say that the interaction betwixt wine and oxygen facilitated by the naturally porous fabric is essential to the aging process of a cellarworthy wine. Screw cap fans think otherwise, though neither side has proved their enclosure is better.
Amcor has created multiple liners. I offers more than permeability at a higher cost, though the visitor too offers variations on its original liner with four different levels of "oxygen transmission rates" (OTRs).
Synthetic cork
Synthetic corks can be made either from petroleum-based plastic or institute-based materials. Plastic corks are made generally from polyethylene, a malleable material that is melted down and turned into "foam" that imitates the porousness of natural cork. Institute-based stoppers are made similarly, but use bio-polyethylene, a bio-based plastic fabricated from ethylene, a byproduct of processing renewable raw materials like sugarcane.
Pros:
Consistency. Synthetic corks are non prone to TCA taint. They provide predictable oxygen transfer rates and a tight, immovable seal.
Immovability. Because they're not made from forest, synthetic corks don't degrade or dry out, and so there'southward no need to store bottles on their sides to keep the cork damp. Synthetic cork also won't break apart, and so in that location'south no risk of cork crumbs to fish out of your wine.
Affordability. Constructed cork tin can be upward to iii times cheaper than natural cork. They're often cheaper than spiral caps, too.
Cons:
Negative environmental impacts. Synthetic corks made from oil-based plastics are not sustainable or biodegradable. They tin be recycled, in theory, though it often depends on the materials used to brand the cork, whether the producer has imprinted the "chasing arrows" logo on their production, and policies of the recycling visitor used.
Found-based stoppers, even so, use renewable resources and have a lower carbon footprint than their constructed counterparts. Made from saccharide cane, Nomacorc, produced by North Carolina-based Vinventions, are recyclable and carbon negative. The company is also releasing a stopper made from recycled plastic.
Hard to open and reseal.Many wine lovers groan at the sight of plastic-based synthetic cork, mainly considering it tends to be the hardest wine closure to open up, and some can be most impossible to put dorsum into the bottle in one case removed. Plant-based corks are often softer than plastic, making them easier to open.
Chemical odor. Some wine professionals claim to detect a chemical odor in wines from oil-based plastic corks, particularly if the wine has been in bottle for a while. While reports of these aromas have abated in contempo years and don't impact establish-based stoppers, the potential for off odors may be of business organization to some.
Other types of wine enclosures
More wine closures may pop up, or out, of your bottle.
Vinoseal: Also known every bit Vinolok, this elegant, expensive glass stopper was developed by the Alcoa Corporation, but afterwards handed over to Czech glass producer Preciosa. It was released in the European market place in 2003. The glass is ringed with plastic to create a tight seal.
Helix: A twist-off cork that requires no corkscrew, created in 2016 by the world'southward largest Portuguese cork manufacturer, Amorim, and the earth'south largest glass-canteen manufacturer, Owens-Illinois Inc.
Crown cap: The cap of pick for beer bottles, this closure is used past traditional-method sparkling producers to seal their bubbles before disgorging, cheers to the crown cap'southward ability to contain pressure. These bottlings are after resealed with cork, wire cage and foil. Many p é tillant – nature l (natural sparkling vino) producers who don't disgorge choose to release their sparklers in all their crown-capped glory. Some yet wines, especially those in the natural camp, are even starting to flaunt the crown cap seal.
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Source: https://www.winemag.com/2019/04/23/wine-closures-pros-cons/
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