Wine Corks - why are we seeing more screw caps?

According to studies, wine corks represent at least two thirds of the cork industry, which is a $1.3 billion industry. It is feared that with the reduced amounts of wine companies using corks in their wine bottles, the industry will dramatically reduce and the forests used to manufacture the cork will be unprofitable and could be subject to destruction.

So, why is it that has made these wine companies change from corks to fake corks and screw caps? After all, corks have been used to seal these bottles of wine for thousands of years and all good French wines have been using them for at least four hundred years, so why the big change?

The answer to that question is simple. The technology for sealing bottles of wine has evolved as everything in life has. They aren't top of the range technology anymore and to be frank, they aren't even particularly good at what they are meant to do. Ok, they stop the wine from escaping, but, and this is quite a big but, they are subject to a chemical called 2,4,6-trichloroanisole. You may have no idea what this chemical is, but it is estimated to affect 3-7% of all wines that use natural corks. It is a foul tasting chemical and it can severely ruin a wine's flavor. This defies the point of using it, especially if you are planning to age the wine for several years.

Another reason why the change has been introduced is because the demand for wine has increased dramatically over recent years. This has meant that more bottles of wine need corks, and the supply of good quality corks are becoming hard to find to meet the demand. Cork trees cannot be harvested for the first time until they are 54 years old! After each harvesting you must then wait another 9 years before cork can be taken from the same tree. That is one reason why synthetic cork substitutes are being used. However, these aren't particularly brilliant for stronger wines and have been proven to be harder to remove than real corks.

It is this reason why screw caps are becoming more and more popular amongst wine companies. They do not leak and therefore do the same job as the cork, but with more practicality. They are cheaper and easier to produce and the styles and makes of screw caps made ensure that the metal in the cap do not affect the wine in any way. Australia is leading the way in screw caps with almost 50% of their wines being closed with them.

Screw tops have proven to be more practical than corks or even synthetic corks, but some people argue that it takes away the romance of a bottle of wine. Can a good quality, well-aged bottle of wine really be respected and enjoyed with a cheap and nasty screw top? Different people have different answers to that question, and it is one that is left to the drinkers preferred taste. The question you have to ask yourself is, how long will it be before all bottles of wine are sealed in this way?