Do Corks vs Screw Caps in Wine Still Matter? This Is What the Experts Say
Screw caps provide accessibility and corks bring tradition. But what do each actually do to the taste of your wine?
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Corks and screw caps have similar functions: to keep wine from going bad. But choosing one or the other can be divisive. Many argue that corks are the key to excellent aging. Others say that twist-top wines are easier to open and keep faults like cork taint out of a wine.
What do you need to know about the two most common wine enclosures? We asked winemakers and sommeliers their stances on both.
Where does cork come from, and why do we use them for wine?
Every nine years, the outer skin of a cork tree is stripped off and corks are stamped out of the thick bark. The process isn’t harmful to the trees, which can can live for 200 years and produce thousands of corks their lifespan.
So, why did corks to become the de facto closure in the wine industry? “It’s porous and allows oxygen to slowly transfer into the wine, which helps soften young tannins and develop more characteristics in a wine,” says Brianne Engles, winemaker at Chamisal Vineyards in San Luis Obispo, California. “On the flip side, because cork is a natural product there are varying degrees of consistency and quality. You can find corks that are dry, crumbly or have holes or gaps — this makes wine oxidize prematurely.”
“Corks can deteriorate over time, leading to oxidation, and there’s always the risk of cork taint from TCA,” says Austin Bridges, the wine director at Nostrana and Enoteca Nostrana in Portland. Up to 5% of all wines with corks are affected with TCA (or cork taint), though major producers like Amorim are investing in technology to help remove cork taint, which can have disastrous effects on a wine.
Related: What To Do If You Order a Bottle of Wine That's Gone Bad
And not all corks are created equally. Traditional corks are punched out of the strips of bark. The remnants are saved and fused together to make agglomerate corks. There’s also Nomacorc, a synthetic cork that looks similar to a real cork and can be made with synthetically produced cork, recycled ocean-bound plastic, or a sugar-cane based polymer.
Why do some wines use screwcaps?
France is to thank for the screwcap. In 1959, a French company patented then released the metal closure for wine bottles that opens with the twist of your wrist, no corkscrew needed.
When wine bottle screw caps first came to market, they were reserved for buck-a-chuck or other affordable wines of mixed quality, not bottles intended for seasoned drinkers to sip, let alone age.
We’ve come a long way since then. Trials from the Australian Wine Research Institute tested identical wines sealed with screw caps and cork, aged over a 24 month period. Wines under screw cap tasted virtually the same, while the wines under cork fluctuated in quality and flavor.
UC Davis, in partnership with PlumpJack Winery, aged 200 bottles of Sauvignon Blanc under natural cork, another 200 under synthetic cork, and finally 200 under screw cap. The screw cap sealed wines were shown to be the most consistent over the study, though cork was found to contribute more aging characteristics.
Related: The Secret to Smelling Wine Like a Pro? Use the Three-Tier Aroma System
Cork
Wines can develop more thoroughly over time due to cork's porous nature
Sense of tradition
Better for wines intended to age
Screw Cap
More consistent, less variation between bottles
Less prone to contamination
Better for younger wines meant to be consumed soon
Screw cap’s bad rap
Despite advances in research and quality, screw caps’ negative stigma lingers with many consumers.
“This debate between the two is not new,” says Aaron Walker, director of winemaking Operations at Pali Wine Co. in central California. “It’s been going on even before I started making wine in 2006.”
“People see screw tops and assume that the wine is cheap or poorly made,” says D’Onna Stubblefield, the beverage director at Bloomsday. “Corks have been such a big part of wine historically. People associate them with tradition and quality.”
Jason Alexander, the wine director of Che Fico in San Francisco, is receptive to screw caps, but admits it can still be a tough sell in a restaurant setting. “Consumers continue to view screw caps as cheap and associate them with bulk wines sold on the bottom shelves of supermarkets,” he says. “For higher end wines offered by the bottle we prefer cork simply for public perception.”
This biases also vary country by country, with some more readily embracing the screw cap. Screw-top wines account for 30% of American wines distributed, while 70% of Australian wine and 90% of New Zealand are sealed under screw cap. Penfolds, a luxury Australian winery, offers both screw caps and cork: the former generally staying in the domestic market and the cork-closed bottles shipping off to their international customers.
U.S. consumers are coming around. Siduri, producers of California Pinot Noir, are strong advocates for screw caps because of the closure’s ability to preserve aromatics. Kathleen Inman, owner and winemaker at Inman Family Wines in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley, committed to the closure in 2002. “I made this choice for a number of reasons — primarily consistency, quality and ease for the consumer,” she says. “And I have found that my wines have aged wonderfully in screw caps.”
Related: How Long Does Wine Last After Opening?
Are screw caps or corks better for wine?
So why are we still stuck on cork? For many, cork has an old-school allure. To some, opening a four-figure bottle of grand cru Burgundy with a twist doesn’t feel fitting.
“People often shun screw tops because they bypass the age-old romanticism of opening a bottle of wine with a cork,” says Bridges. “I don't think we will ever see screw caps used in any serious appellation any time soon. A Barolo under screw cap just does not vibe.”
“There’s something ritualistic about using a corkscrew,” says Eben Klemm, vice president of beverage and service at Saint Bibiana in Savannah, Georgia. “It’s the tradition of winemaking. Tradition and ritual are really the last advantage that cork has over alternatives.”
Screw caps, with their consistency, also don’t offer the allure of the unknown provided by a wine aged under cork. If you’re looking for a wine to bloom over time, a less-porous screw cap won’t take you on that journey in quite the same way.
In 2007, Steve Peck, the vice president of winemaking at J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, bottled their Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon — a serious, full-bodied wine — with both screw cap and cork. “We found that the screw cap bottles were almost frozen in time,” he said. “The wine did not develop the nuanced bottle bouquet that the cork-finished wines did.”
Pali Wine Co started using screw cap closures in 2005 after seeing that up to 10% of corks were infected with cork taint. Five years into the experiment, the producer found their wines just weren’t aging well, and moved their high-end wines to cork while keeping wines meant to be consumed within a few years under screw cap.
“Traditional cork closures work beautifully for aged reds and even aged whites if the cork is clean,” says Peck. “For youthful whites and rosé, I have come to appreciate screw caps for their lower oxygen permeation and preservation of fresh fruit character.”
So, should you shun wine sealing with a screw cap due to its impact on ageability? It depends on how you intend to consume it. A Sonoma State University study found 90% of consumers open and consume a bottle of wine within two weeks of purchase, meaning the type of closure likely doesn’t matter.
“Most of the wine bought today is consumed right after purchase and most wine is now produced to be ready now,” says Kenneth Pace, general manager for Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Asheville, North Carolina. Meaning that unless you’re squirreling away blue chip bottles, or if aging is a factor, you're likely to find luck with both options.
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