Screw cap wines are becoming more and more popular with each passing day. But I think they still have some hurdles to jump over. Personally, I have always associated screw-on caps with cheap wine- The kind of cheap wine that gives you a hangover the next day. But my stereotypes have led me astray, because I soon discovered that screw caps don’t necessarily mean cheap, unsophisticated wine.

It is said that screw caps allow the natural fruity flavor of wines to remain longer than synthetic or natural cork. According to About.com, 5-10% of bottled wines with natural cork contain a musty smell and taste due to the substance used to sanitize the cork, known as Trichloroanisole, or TCA. This rotten smell and taste is called cork taint. Synthetic cork does not always protect shelf wines from oxidation and spoilage, therefore decreasing their longevity. Synthetic corks are also not the most environmentally friendly caps, taking a very long time to biodegrade. Screw caps don’t have either of these issues, and save wine manufacturers money by eliminating the need to import cork caps.

With “saving the planet” on my mind lately, I also had the idea that screw caps were perhaps better for the environment. However, research on wine corks lead me to discover that corks are actually good for the environment. Cork trees, existing mainly in Spain and Portugal, need to be harvested in order to continue to flourish. Therefore, using a natural cork wine stopper helps to harvest these special trees, contributing to the growth and helping to “save the planet” by reducing carbon. Again, I am drinking wine to do my small part to make the world a better place.

Buying wine with a natural cork not only protects biodiversity and endangered animals that depend on cork tree forests to survive, but millions of rural jobs. If the demand for wine still increases while the demand for cork decreases, harvesting jobs can be cut and lost. If harvesting jobs are lost, large amounts of the cork trees will remain unharvested, therefore becoming more susceptible to wild fires, clearing, etc. The harvested trees regenerate the cork bark, storing Carbon Dioxide 3 to 5 times more than the unharvested bark, which helps the environment, according to the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) (http://assets.panda.org/downloads/cork_rev12_print.pdf). These cork oak landscapes also store carbon, reducing gases in the atmosphere.  They conserve soil by preventing wind and water erosion. The environmental and economical benefits are endless.

Wine manufacturers have been virtually unchallenged with their traditional cork methods for decades, so it comes as a surprise for some that screw caps are gaining popularity. After understanding the benefits of natural cork, I will personally use only these. Keeping it real, screw caps no longer equal cheap wine, but they don’t mean “going green” either. With this said, I have come to the conclusion that change will happen like a fine wine ages-when the time is right.   

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