Why are so many wines using screw tops instead of cork?
Some people call it the end of the romance of a bottle of wine. Some see it as a horrifying reminder of cheap jug wine. But the winemakers of New Zealand and Australia see screw tops (or Stelvin Closures) as the silver bullet against two major problems facing the industry: 1) tainted wine and 2) expensive cork. Good quality cork is in short supply and prices are rising. Some winemakers are spending almost a dollar for each cork they buy. Spending $ 0.80 for cork is okay if the bottle sells for $ 50.00, but not if it sells for $ 5.00. Stelvin closures are an inexpensive alternative that help keep the costs down for the winemaker, and thus for you, the consumer. The other problem is “cork taint.” If you have ever opened a bottle of wine and it smelled really bad – funky or chlorinated – then you’ve probably experienced a tainted wine. Cork is a natural wood product that must be sanitized with a chlorine compound before it can be used to seal a wine bottle. Sometimes that compound lingers
