Among the cork devices for wine bottles, the most traditional and well-known is of course the cork. Soft, non-breakable, breathable and airtight, cork has a lifespan of 20 to 50 years, making it a favorite among traditional winemakers.
With changes in science and technology and market conditions, many modern bottle stoppers have emerged, and screw caps are one of them. The stopper can be made of either iron or plastic. However, even now, there are still many consumers who are more resistant to screw caps, seeing it as a sign of “poor” wine quality, and unable to enjoy the romantic and exciting process of pulling the cork out when opening a bottle.
In fact, as a unique cork, screw cap has advantages that other cork devices do not have, and its characteristics are the most suitable for most wine products.
1. The screw cap is airtight, which is good for most wines
The air permeability of screw caps is not as good as cork stoppers, but most wines in the world are simple and easy to drink and need to be drunk in a short time, that is, not only do they not need to be aged in the bottle, but also try to avoid excessive oxidation. Of course, many high-quality high-end red wines and a few high-end white wines still need to be corked to enjoy the quality improvement brought by slow oxidation over the years.
2. Screw caps are cheap, what’s wrong?
As a pure modern industrial product, the production cost of screw caps is necessarily lower than that of cork stoppers. However, a bargain does not mean a bad product. Just like finding a marriage partner, the person who is not the best or the most “expensive” is the most suitable for you. Nobility is worth admiring, but not necessarily suitable for owning.
In addition, screw caps are easier to open and more resistant than corks. For producers and consumers of ordinary wine, why not use screw caps?
3. 100% avoid cork contamination
As we all know, cork contamination is an unpredictable disaster for wine. You won’t know if the wine is cork-tainted until you open it. In fact, speaking, the birth of new bottle stoppers such as screw caps is also closely related to the pollution of cork stoppers. In the 1980s, because the quality of the natural cork produced at that time did not meet people’s requirements, it was very easy to be infected with TCA and cause the wine to deteriorate. Therefore, both screw caps and synthetic corks appeared.