For wine: Cork, synthetic cork, or screw cap?

There is a debate in the world of wine about whether the cork can be replaced by the screw cap and how it can affect the wine inside, how appropriate it can be, and how its presence can affect or not but is it really so important the cork stopper in a bottle? In our post today, we give you certain keys so that you can recognize what type of wine you are going to drink based on how it is closed.

Cork is the most common way to close a bottle of wine, and also the one we are most accustomed to culturally both in Spain and in the rest of Europe. This does not mean that today, for economic or ecological reasons, many wineries (especially those in the New World) have opted for other ways to seal their bottles. The difference in the ways of production, the very philosophy of many wineries, flavors, aging, and the age of the wines to which they aspire to be kept, are some criteria that allow some options or others to be used in the techniques of closing the bottles.

The advantages and disadvantages of cork

Cork comes from the bark of the cork oak. It is a resistant material but at the same time flexible and porous. Easy to cut and of quality, but it is expensive to manufacture and the process for its production is long. Historically, the natural properties of cork, as well as its use throughout history, are what has made it the most widely used for sealing bottles almost since the 16th century. An essential virtue is that it enables a fundamental “micro-oxygenation” so that the wine continues to evolve in the bottle. It does not modify the smell or taste of the wine unless the cork spoils or rot (it must be remembered that it is an organic material), and it is the perfect ally for the storage of medium and high-end wines.

Its disadvantage, as we have already mentioned, comes from the cost of its production as well as its organic nature, which can cause the cork to degrade due to fungi. This situation is called “cork disease”, and if it happens, it can present aromas and flavors that negatively affect and damage the wine.

This type of closure, in its natural or technical format, is the one we always choose at Bodegas Luzón for all our wines.

Synthetic cork

Of course, the logical evolution of natural corks is the creation of stoppers created in synthetic or plastic materials. Arisen throughout the 80s, their operation is practically the same as natural cork, at a lower cost, more sustainable and currently, most are made with biodegradable materials, which does not affect the environment either. As many experts say “a good synthetic cork is better than a bad natural cork”. It can have great advantages, since unlike natural ones, due to the composition of the material itself, it will not affect the taste of the wine in any case, since they cannot be degraded. They are used above all for young wines of less complexity or for wines that do not need to be subjected to long aging since this is where we find their main disadvantage.

This disadvantage is that in the vast majority of cases, synthetic cork stoppers do not properly regulate the micro-oxygenation of the wine, and as a result, in long aging the wine has more numbers to spoil or become vinegary more easily, so many producers do not use them in wines intended for long aging.

Screw Cap for wines

In many cases, although it is a very normal type of closure in New World countries, in Spain and Europe there is still the stigma that a wine with a screw cap is a poor quality wine or a “cheap” wine. Could not be farther from the truth.

The screw closure is a simple aluminum cap that is placed on the neck of the bottle and is ideal for white wines or young wines that do not have a storage purpose and that are intended to be consumed in the same year. It is a type of closure that does not allow the micro-oxygenation of the wine, something necessary for its conservation, but that for this type of wine, young or white, it is not necessary since they are not designed for long aging. This system also has the advantage that it allows the wine to be kept in the fridge for longer, preserving its freshness and flavor. In addition, the quality of the wine can be repeated in each bottle, avoiding the risk of oxidation.

Australia, New Zealand, and the United States are some of the countries where this very practical closure method has been successful. Due to the success of sales in the aforementioned countries and the solution of a specific problem (cost of corks), many wineries begin to use this for their wines, although a high volume of consumers relate it, as we have mentioned, to wines cheap or low quality.

Ergo, each wine can have a different form of closure, which does not mean that one wine is better than another. Each option has an objective and has nothing to do with the quality of the wine or the prestige of the winery. When looking for a wine, let yourself be carried away by what it offers, but not by its lid, since the magic of wine is inside the bottle.