Neck Cork

One of the biggest arguments amidst wine lovers is not Red vs. White, or French wine vs. California wine. One of the biggest arguments that you’ll listen amongst wine lovers is natural cork vs. screw caps. That’s right… whether or not wine bottles ought to be sealed with traditionalisti cork stoppers, or with screw caps. Each method of sealing the wine bottle has it’s good points and it’s bad points.

Traditional corks are under attack, largely for the reason that they could grant the wine to become “corked”. That is, the wine reacts with a substance called trichloroanisole. This substance is formed when the chlorine, which is used to sanitize the cork, reacts with a mold that grows in numerous cork. Trichloranisole, or TCA, causes a musty odor, and a flat, moldy flavor. An approximated 5-10% of wines on dealer shelves are “corked”.

Natural corks are also not always easy to remove from the bottle. With the old spiral corkscrew, you have to put it in the cork just right, and not screw it in too far. And even if you get the corkscrew into the cork just right, pieces of the cork do crumble into the wine.

That isn’t to say that cork stoppers are bad. They do concede the wine to breathe a bit. Their porous nature allows oxygen into the bottle, and other gases out. Some experts say that this is what allows wine to age. Others, however, assert that it is the compounds in the wine that grant aging. One of the other good things regarding natural corks, is the satisfying “pop” as it comes out of the bottle. A screw cap can’t compare with the drama and romance of popping a cork out of the neck of the bottle.

You may have likewise seen synthetic corks in a heap of bottles of wine. These stoppers, rather of being made from natural cork bark, are made from plastic. Synthetic corks are even harder to get out of the bottle than natural corks, and near out of the question to put back into the bottle, if you need to put the bottle away after opening. Synthetic corks have likewise been known to concede the wine to oxidize, which causes flatness in the wine. It takes away a good deal of of the chemicals that form an necessary percentage of the wine aroma.

Screw caps, on the other hand, seem to be the perfective solution for sealing a bottle of wine. Screw caps don’t concede the wine to become “corked”, like natural corks. They’re having little impact to remove than both natural and synthetic corks. And they don’t concede the wine to oxidize like synthetic corks. There is a great deal of argument when it comes to whether screw caps grant the wine to age, like a natural cork does. Since aging a bottle of wine may take 5-50 years, and the screw cap is a comparatively recent development, it will take a good deal of time to determine whether or not the wine will age as well.

So, screw caps make a good seal for a bottle of wine. But they do have the huge drawback of not being as dramatic as a cork. Close your eyes for a moment, and imaging going to a imagination restaurant for a romantic dinner with your spouse. The waiter brings out a bottle of the most costly wine, then unscrews a bottle cap. It just doesn’t have the flair of pulling a cork.

In the future it’s likely that you’ll see more and more wine being sealed with a screw cap than with a cork. Personally, the vantages seem to be in favor of the screw cap. But with proper storage, a good bottle of wine may liven up a party or meal, no matter whether it’s sealed with a cap or a cork.

Neck Cork Pic

Neck Cork Pic

Neck Cork Photo

Neck Cork Picture