Home » Food & Drink » California Wine » The New Corks

The New Corks

© Alan Boehmer

I remember two things from a conversation I had in 1978 with John Parducci in his Ukiah home. The first was that he believed his Anderson Valley Cabernet Sauvignons routinely ran circles around the best from Bordeaux. And the second was that he opined that the American wine market practically prohibited him from using screw cap closures!

The traditional wisdom about closures is that wine, being a living thing, needs a semi permeable closure in order to "breathe." Wine writers informed us that minuscule amounts of oxygen passing through traditional corks allowed great wines to develop aromas and "bottle bouquet." Wines using traditional cork closures must be stored horizontally, so that the wine keeps the cork wet and promotes swelling - and therefore, a better seal. And just in case the seal was less than perfect, lead foil capsules were added. An industry developed around traditional notions of wine storage, thought to require temperature control, humidity control (because of the possibility of dried corks), and horizontal racking.

The wine industry estimates that around 5% of all wines are damaged by faulty corks. This is the rationale behind restaurant wine presentation, according to which the cork is always offered to the patron (who usually doesn't have a clue about what to do with it), and a small taste is offered to establish that the wine is sound. (Not liking the wine which has been ordered does not provide grounds to reject it.)

The twenty-first century will lay to rest many traditional notions of wine preservation. Many studies, some of which we will report on in future articles, have shown the relationship between temperature and the preservation/development of desirable flavor and aroma characteristics. But the matter of wine needing an organic, natural, breatheable seal has been debunked. Mr. Parducci was right about the screw caps.

Synthetic corks made from injection molded thermoplastics are based on medical models and use the same materials approved for heart valves and catheters. They provide a perfect seal without any danger of spoilage or chipping. You can learn more about these products by visiting the Web site of Supremecorq , the Seattle based company that provides most of the new closures to the wine industry.

We think that synthetic closures will eventually replace cork. They are currently used on about 5% of all U.S. wines, both high end and low. And the only problem we've encountered is that they are difficult to open with "Ah-so" (two-pronged) openers.

The copyright of the article The New Corks in California Wine is owned by . Permission to republish The New Corks in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.