If you've ever wondered if screw cap = cheap wine and why there are different types of wine bottle closures... you are not alone! Listen in as I:

• Clarify the differences in the types of wine closures
• Simplify why certain bottles have corks and some do not
• If and how the closure relates to the wine's quality
• Answer LISTENER QUESTIONS and give a couple shoutouts!

Check out this cool article about composting your wine corks!

If you'd like to Support the Podcast, you can buy me a glass of wine and get a shoutout on a future episode.

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Remember the sommellier comes over with the towel over his arm and presents the bottle so we can see the label and it had a screw cap.

And I was like, oh, how's this going to go?

I'm going to miss the ceremony and actually to his credit, this awesome sommellier had this very flashy way to open the screw cap, where he extended his arm out with the bottle hanging down.

He flipped open the screw cap with one hand, the screw cap, a roll down his arm and dropped into the.

Pocket of his vest that he was wearing.

And it was very cool.

And so he had created something exciting about how to open a screwcap, but I've only seen that once in my life and.

You know, , it just doesn't have the pomp and circumstance.

Hello, and welcome to this week's episode.

I want to kick it off with a shout out to one of our listeners, miss destiny.

I recently hosted destiny, Anna wine tasting, and she was like my spirit animal, because like I often do.

And you are subject to this listener.

, she likes to make up songs and sing about things like this.

So to miss destiny, you don't know what it's like.

That was for you.

So cork versus screw cap.

What's the deal with this?

I get this question often from friends, from family, from wine buyers and wine tasters, and people want to know what's the deal.

Is there really a difference and does a screw cap mean that the wine is not as good?

So we're going to break it down this week and talk about three main things.

The first one being, what are the differences between those two types of closures and natural cork versus a man-made screw cap.

Then we'll talk about what leads winemakers and wineries and producers to pick the one they pick and what are the factors leading them to determine that.

And then finally, I'll give you my verdict on, if it really does correlate directly to the wine's quality.

And if you'd like some other tips about understanding and enjoying wine, be sure to visit sipwithnikki.com forward slash resource.

And I will email you a free PDF of my wine tips, cheat sheets, again, that sip with nikki.com forward slash resource.

So here we go with court or screwed.

if you listened to episode four of the first season of Sip With Nikki was all about aging wine, why and how and what the benefits are.

So if you haven't listened to that, I definitely encourage you to go back.

But in that episode, I brushed on the topic of closures of screw cap.

Versus cork versus synthetic cork.

, but today we're going to really dive deeper in it.

And in order to do that and then talk about, is there really a difference in what you need to know as far as wine quality versus the closure?

I wanted to share with you a wonderful metaphor that I was taught about.

How wine ages in the bottle, because really this is one of the main considerations for a wine maker and a wine producer to decide the closure it has to do with the wine and what's in the bottle.

And is it meant to age and is it a wine that's going to get better with age?

All of those things determine the closure that they select.

So think of a kaleidoscope.

Member, we used to look through a kaleidoscope has kids and you'd peek through, and the light would come through all those glass pieces that were in the end.

And as you turn the tube, the glass pieces would shift.

And , the beautiful picture that you were looking at, right?

All the different shapes that were coming together.

It would change.

As the light came through and as you twisted, so essentially when you bottle a wine.

It's kinda like a kaleidoscope in there because for the most part, that bottle is closed.

Just like the kaleidoscope tube.

But the catalyst that's twisting the quote tube and changing the picture of the wine inside is oxygen.

And what directly affects the rate of oxygen and how it passes through as what the heck that bottle of wine has been closed with.

Right.

So.

Let's start from the beginning.

Traditionally wines were closed with corks.

Now cork is bark of a cork tree.

And I talk about this all the time with guests during wine tasting and.

And I find often people are like, oh, I didn't even know that it was bark of a tree.

So it's a natural product.

Most of the cork forests and the cork industry is based in Spain and Portugal and in the Mediterranean, really with Portugal leading the way.

And.

When you plant a new cork tree, it takes about 25 years before it's ready to be harvested for cork.

But one of the cool things is you don't cut down the tree to make the cork, like you do a, an Oak tree to make a wine barrel.

You literally harvest the bark from the tree and the tree stays living for two to 300 years.

And about every nine or so years, that bark has rejuvenated itself enough for another cork harvest.

So it's become a very.

The sustainable industry and it's a, it's a natural product.

And.

People liked the idea originally of using cork to close a wine bottle because it is porous.

It breathes a little bit and it allows that slow amount of oxygen to pass through, even if there's a foil capsule on top, there's still a little bit of oxygen.

And that would in turn, change the kaleidoscope, the picture of the wine inside and let it.

Become something different over years.

And that's part of the excitement of aging wine is seeing how the quote picture of the wine inside is changing.

There were two issues that then evolved when it came to cork first, just a shortage.

Right?

So as the wine industry grew especially in the 1990s, Australia and New Zealand saw a huge amount of growth in their wine production.

They experience a shortage of cork

so it's almost like those forests couldn't keep up with the need.

And then secondly, there is a spoilage that happens when you are making a cork from bark of a cork tree.

There's a non-toxic chemical byproduct.

We call it TCA for short, if you want to be a nerd like me, what does TCA stand for?

It's tri chloral anoslie, but let's call it TCA.

So this TCA sometimes becomes present in the cork.

During the process of making the cork and now that spoilage.

Was in the cork and the corks been touching the wine and now the wine is quote unquote corked, right?

That's why when you order a bottle of wine and a nice restaurant, often you're presented the cork to not only look at the integrity, like, did it look like it was a sound closure, not crumbling, not leaking.

But also people like me, every time I open a bottle, whether it's at a winery or at home, I am smelling the cork because that TCA creates an aroma of, we call it cork taint, and it smells moldy and musty.

It smells like wet newspaper wet dog, which I know all too well, what that smells like in my house.

And the first time you smell it, like you'll, you'll never forget it.

So that then transfers into the wine and that's why the wine is corked.

Right?

So.

Back in the day and the process of making corks.

I mean, even the eighties, They would say you could expect about eight to 10%.

Of the wines that were closed with natural cork to have this cork tank.

Eight to 10%.

That's crazy.

When you think about everything that goes into the farming and the wine making and the aging and all of the blood, sweat, and tears to get wine in the bottle and then like up too bad.

So sad.

10% of your bottles are going to be.

Corked.

Oh my gosh.

That's painful.

And over the years, the process, especially as the cork industry was aware of this, the process has gotten better.

And now the most recent statistic I can see says it's only around 1% of wine corks have this spoilage.

I can say anecdotally.

You know, as someone who opens many bottles of wine per week, even just thinking about at one winery at pride mountain vineyards, where I'm working, I mean, we could go months without having a corked bottle of wine.

So really the process has gotten better, but it's still there.

I will tell you another thing that has helped to lower the percentage is there's a process where you can scan corks and, and essentially your cork producer will.

Certify that they've been screened for this TCA.

So for my wine that I make, Sollevato we use this technology, we pay a little bit of extra per cork because they've been screened in this chamber for this TCA compounds and to date, I'm getting ready to harvest my six vintage of wine.

I am aware of one corked bottle over five years of making hundreds of bottles per year.

So the process is really good, but it was a real and true thing.

So between the cork shortage and then the spoilage issue.

In the eighties is when you really saw , this increase in wineries going to screw caps.

Like I said, especially Australia and New Zealand really paved the way with that.

And it had its benefits, right.

There were no shortages and screw caps and no spoilage, but then the question became, okay.

Does that manmade screw cap allow the same amount of oxygen to pass through the cork and allow the kaleidoscope.

The picture of the wine to change and the belief was no.

So, what you saw was producers who were making just yummy, fresh, vibrant wines.

That really weren't going to benefit from aging.

And again, if you're like, well, how do you know if a wine is going to benefit from aging.

Go back to episode four and it fill in the blanks there.

But generally speaking producers would use those screw caps to say, you know what?

This is a young, fresh, delicious wine, and it's meant to be drank sooner than later.

So here's the screw cap.

And now we don't have to worry about the issues, the problem, as in so many things in our world is consumer perception, right?

So originally the wines that you were seeing bottled under a screw cap tended to be less expensive wines, which.

Can sometimes or often correlate with lower quality one.

So people just assume.

Screw cap equals crappy wine.

Well, as we know in wine if things are not that cut and dry and things are not that linear, and that is certainly not the case anymore.

There are some very high-end beautiful wines around the world.

Not only in Australia, but even here in California and other regions that are now being closed with screw caps, because the producers were tired of shortages and tired of spoilages.

Right.

There's a winery by me here in the Napa valley called Cade and Plumpjack winery.

Family of sister wineries.

And I remember going tasting there about 15 years ago and I purchased a bottle of high-end Cabernet, Sauvignon, high quality, beautifully made.

And they asked me, do you want your Cabernet Sauvignon with a screw cap?

Or a cork.

And I was like, I get to choose.

So they were doing a study.

And for that vintage, I believe they bottled half of their production under screw cap and half under cork.

And then the goal was to do studies and measurements of, you know, the oxygen and the chemistry in the bottle over the years, but more importantly to check in with their customers over the years.

And see what the perceptions were.

Could you tell a difference?

Did you like one versus the other and.

I've not seen or heard any super conclusive data from that.

But what I have seen coming out of that is.

There was not as much difference in those two wines as people thought there were.

So then that raised the question of like, oh, so maybe it's not that a cork allows oxygen to pass through in a screw cap.

Doesn't.

It's that there are varying degrees of permeability.

Right.

So what does that mean for you , as a consumer and how do you use all this nerdy knowledge to your benefit?

Well, the thing with corks is that.

It can be.

Variable right.

The wine can be quote breathing and therefore aging at a variable rate.

Where screw caps, especially with more recent technology, they have a little bit more specific oxygen levels that have been engineered in them.

And it is just more consistent.

So that's one point on the board for screw caps.

Another point for screw caps is that it's easy.

It's convenient.

People often tell me that they struggle opening wine with the traditional corkscrew.

Like if that's you, you're not alone.

I keep saying that I'm going to do a video on the proper way to do it with the traditional corkscrew, which is the only device that I use to open my wines, nothing electric, nothing with.

Arms that flop up and down.

I'm just going at it with the traditional corkscrew, which is how most wine nerds like me prefer to do it.

Right.

It's just tradition.

So tradition leads me to.

A point on the board for corks.

There is something traditional and

ceremonial.

About opening a bottle of wine with a corkscrew and that subtle pop . If you listen to last week's episode, where I talk about my aha moments in wine, I talk about Palo I experienced this wine that really changed my life.

But another time.

We ordered just a nice white blend.

And it was that bottle of conundrum.

A beautiful white blend to start the meal and I.

Remember the sommellier comes over with the towel over his arm and presents the bottle so we can see the label and it had a screw cap.

And I was like, oh, how's this going to go?

I'm going to miss the ceremony and actually to his credit, this awesome sommellier had this very flashy way to open the screw cap, where he extended his arm out with the bottle hanging down.

He flipped open the screw cap with one hand, the screw cap, a roll down his arm and dropped into the.

Pocket of his vest that he was wearing.

And it was very cool.

And so he had created something exciting about how to open a screwcap, but I've only seen that once in my life and.

You know, , it just doesn't have the pomp and circumstance.

And, you know, wine is a very traditional beverage and there's a lot of, you know, nostalgia and enjoyment based in it.

And that's a point for corks, right?

You don't have that with screw caps.

Now there is a whole nother category of closures besides cork and screw cap.

And that is a manmade or synthetic cork.

It looks like a cork.

You've probably seen some of these, but it's actually made of a composite material or plastic or silicone.

So that is going to.

Fit more when we're talking about aging and pros and cons, you know, that's going to fit more along the lines of the screw cap, but it's made to look more traditional.

So, you know, generally lower price wines are going to use that because it's cheaper to produce that then a traditional cork.

So, you know, there's a lot of variables and things that you want to be aware of.

But the big question that everybody always wants to know is how does this relate to wine quality?

So we're going to go to a listener question.

And this is from Barbara, from New Jersey.

And she wanted to know what is the correlation with screw caps and wine quality and.

Ageability.

So how I answered this question today is probably different than how I would've answered it 10 years ago.

And the answer is there is no direct correlation between wine quality and the closure in that because of everything I've just explained to you.

As far as age ability.

The idea has evolved that it's that different between the two.

And actually with screw caps, being a little more consistent as a closure.

Again, some producers are feeling like that's a safer and more guaranteed.

Way to go.

Where I work, how I make my own wine and the closures that we use, there are still many wine producers that will probably never go to screw caps.

And.

And that is them saying that this wine is a kaleidoscope.

It is going to change.

With time and I'm using a traditional cork, not only for the romance and the ceremony of it.

But also because there is no cut and dry data yet showing that.

There is a better alternative.

So for the benefit of the wine, To age and change and become softer, more complex and more interesting.

We're going to stick with a cork, right?

If you listen to episode 13 with my good friend, Dr.

Hoby Wendler.

Well, if you haven't go back to it because it's fascinating.

But I actually asked Hoby to weigh in because not only is he a wine professional, but he has a PhD in organic chemistry from UC Davis.

And I said, Hey, weigh in for me.

Let me, let me quote you as we talk about cork versus screw cap and.

He said the scientist in him wants to nerd out about oxygen, but the romantic in him says.

You just can't open a bottle of wine with just your hands.

That's stupid.

So he is also subscribing to the idea of the tradition and the romance of a cork.

We've got a second listener question.

And this one is from Molly, from Ohio.

And Molly's question was more around the sustainability, right?

As we think of.

Packaging glass, carbon footprint composting, recycling, all of that.

She wanted to know are you sacrificing in her words, anything naughty, which I thought was so cute, anything naughty by moving to a screw cap, right.

Versus a cork.

So I want to talk for a minute just.

As far as the renewable and sustainable.

Elements of both of these.

So.

Natural cork.

Like we talked about bark from a cork tree is the only 100% renewable resource, right?

Because we talked about how those trees can just be harvested and harvested periodically.

But I'm also going to share a link to a very cool article that I just read in the show notes about.

Composting corks.

So you can't recycle corks, but they can be composted again, if this is truly a natural cork, which you can tell by looking at it, versus some of these synthetic ones that I've been talking about.

If you compost in your house, these can go in the compost, but you have to grind them up, chop them up, make them a little bit smaller in order to aid the degrading process.

I also read that you can use them in your garden.

And they can almost be like a repurposed as mulch or, you know, when you're filling planters with rocks to have that sort of permeability to let the water drain at the bottom of your pots, you can actually use wine corks.

So.

There is a a second life for them or they can be composted.

So my final guidance for you is there really is no direct correlation.

Between closure type and wine quality, they are not dependent on each other.

As of this year, over 5 million bottles are being sealed with screw caps.

And many of them are well-made high quality, delicious wines, and screw caps are easy and fast and convenient, and it, they are proven to retain the quote freshness of the wine inside.

So.

Just something to be aware of.

Don't be off put by screw cap.

It does not mean that it is a lesser quality wine.

Especially lately, it's going to be interesting to see the trend.

You know, with a lot of wine producers looking at more sustainable packaging and going away from bottles, going to you know, Tetra packs and cans and things that are super easy and convenient.

It's going to be interesting to see what the younger generation of wine drinkers who are more open to these alternative packagings how they start to perceive things where some of us more traditional folks, gen X, baby boomers, that's us.

You know, we, we kinda like the cork.

We like what we like.

So.

In the end.

Like what you like, right.

There's my advice.

There's not a direct correlation between quality, but just be aware of the differences.

And generally speaking, if you are going to age a wine for.

10, 15, 20 years, which can be a fantastic reward at the end.

Cork is probably the way to go for that.

Clear as mud, right.

Like with so many things in wine, it's just important to have a little bit of an understanding, have a little bit of a background and in the end, make your choices accordingly.

Like what you drink, drink, what you like.

That is always the guiding principle that you're going to get from Ms.

Nikki, over here.

Hey, if you haven't left us a rating for the podcast yet, I would love if you could take a quick minute, scroll to the bottom of where you see the show with all of our 30 plus episodes.

And you could take 10 seconds and leave us a rating.

I would so appreciate it.

And if you're enjoying sip with Nikki, please share it with someone in your life who is the wine drinker, wine lover, and would love to be a part of our community.

As always, if you are interested in trying my delicious Sollevato Sangiovese at the time of this recording in late August.

The 2021 vintage is not yet sold out and I can ship to most states.

And when it arrives, you'll get to see my beautiful, natural cork.

Because that bottle, my friends is definitely a kaleidoscope inside.

I'll put the link in the show notes for our Sollevato Wines and make sure to use the code PODLISTENER for 10% off your purchase.

Looking forward to connecting with you next week.

And until then Well,