It would be simplistic to say that screwcaps are the greatest thing since sliced bread – it’s better than that – pre-sliced bread isn’t actually better it’s just easier – screwcaps are easier and better.

Muddy Water has changed to screwcaps for all the wine we produce destined for the New Zealand market. We give our overseas distributors a choice because screwcaps v corks is a marketing decision not a quality decision and they have to sell our wines in those countries. When we say its not a quality decision we mean – if you want quality – screwcaps are the only way. Why did we change? Simply because screw caps are better and like every other winery in the world we were dissatisfied with corks – but there didn’t seem to be an alternative. The winemakers who began the current move to screwcaps, (from the Clare Valley in Australia and NZ’s Screwcap Initiative founders) have shown us all the future. For Muddy Water the galvanising event came about in February 2002. We were one of the guest wineries at the Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration – I opened 15 bottles of 1999 Muddy Water Pinot Noir for a tasting – 10 were good – 1 was corked (obvious TCA) and 4 were compromised – just not quite right - slightly corked or slightly oxidised – a bit dull and flat – opened by themselves they would have been hard to pick out – next to the 10 good ones it was obvious. A failure rate of 33%!

The wonderful thing about screwcaps is that the end user is drinking exactly what we at the winery put into the bottle – with corks there was a dangerous “x”  factor – would the cork have tainted the wine? – would the wine be oxidised? - or would it be a good bottle? (good cork!) Under a screwcap the wine does still develop but as it would under an extra specially good cork. At the Screwcap Initiative tastings we have tried some quite old wines under screwcap – 20 year old Clare Valley Rieslings – the wines were developed as one would expect but evenly developed and not oxidised or corked.

I have been to several screwcap v cork tastings run by the Screwcap Initiative – the results just keep getting better. I hate telling people about taste and flavour because these are very personal and subjective things and because people who waffle on about strawberries and pineapples sound like such tossers. Jane will tell you that it’s almost impossible to get me to write tasting notes – I’m always happy to tell people what we do, and why, but I hope you’ll all form your own opinions about the finished product. However because most of you are not able to attend these tastings I’ll try to describe what I’ve found.

The wines under screwcaps appear to age more evenly and accentuate the pure fruit flavours and reduced characteristics to a greater extent than corks. Sometimes wines under cork taste ‘corky’ without actually being corked – almost oaky – it’s only obvious because of the screwcap wine along side. I have tried over 50 comparisons now and I haven’t yet found 1 where the cork was better – some are more advanced under cork but not actually better.   There has been a lot of fuss about some reduced and rubbery characters found in the screwcaps of the Semillon wine used in the Australian Wine Research Institute trial into wine closures. Prof. Roger Boulton from UC Davis pointed out that this is most probably caused by the ascorbic acid – still used in Australian white winemaking but no longer widely used in NZ or the US. The fact that the screwcap seal does not allow oxidation causes the wines treated with ascorbic to develop rubbery flavours. As we don’t use ascorbic we don’t have this problem.

Of course there’s still a lot for us at the winery to learn about using screwcaps – we have already discovered that we can reduce the amount of the preservative SO2 (sulphur dioxide). We use SO2 to control oxidation in wine – with screwcaps we have been able to reduce the amount of SO2 used – this is great news for all wine drinkers especially asthmatics as SO2 is responsible for the allergic reaction that asthmatics often get when drinking wine. An example of this is the SO2 reduction that we have achieved at Muddy Water –

                                                                                    Free SO2                   Total SO2

1999 Muddy Water Medium Riesling                     30ppm                        140ppm

2002 Muddy Water James Hardwick                     11ppm                        50ppm

That’s a phenomenal reduction and not only are the wines more user friendly – they are better for it. The Screwcap Initiative has undertaken some trials and wineries using screwcaps are also experimenting and sharing the results to speed up the process. Its interesting to look at the wineries involved in the Screwcap Initiative – they are all innovative and progressive with a strong quality focus. 

For the people who find that corks are a romantic wine closure and screwcaps aren’t – imagine the candle lit table – the wine waiter arrives with an old bottle from the “Cellar Selection” and pulls out the cork – that promising little pop that we all love -  there’s a faint odour – you cross your fingers and hope – he pours a taste into your glass – it smells just like the old brush you use to clean the pool crossed with the smell of the clothes you left wet in the washing machine for a week when you went away last summer with a touch of your teenaged son’s sneakers thrown in– you say “I’m afraid its corked” – the waiter says – “I’m afraid its our last bottle – can I bring you the list again” – by this time your dinners have arrived and you are scouring the wine list for a suitable bottle – you order – it’s a slim chance but maybe that wine is corked too. Anyway it’s the liquid in the bottle that’s magical and romantic not the piece of bark in the bottleneck. Give me a screwcap any day and a wine waiter who can make a “pop” sound (preferably with his or her mouth).

A winemaker friend accused me of being the ‘screwcap” equivalent of a Jehovah’s Witness the other day – I probably am quite evangelical but I’ve been on the receiving end of some bad corks in the past and being able to guarantee the closure we use on our wine is a massive step forward. As many others have said – “what industry would put up with a packaging failure rate of between 3% and 20%?” The wine industry has – for much too long. As Bob Campbell put it in his article “It’s a Screwcap Revolution”  July 2001 –“I have one question for all of the other winemakers who for the time being continue to use corks. If you know that screwcaps will produce better and more consistent wine than corks, how can you continue to short-change your customers?” – you can find the whole article at www.bobcampbell.co.nz – its worth reading – as are all Bob’s articles.

Other good information about screwcaps can be found at www.corkwatch.com and www.screwcap.co.nz

Cheers
Belinda