KEY POINTS:
Is the corkscrew destined to join the garter, snuff box and cassette tape in that dusty drawer of obsolete accessories? Given about 90 per cent of New Zealand wines are now under screwcap and even the French are starting to convert, it certainly looks likely that in the
future far fewer corks will be pulled.
Cork has been used as a stopper since the 1600s, when it was adopted by Dom Perignon to replace the cloth-wrapped wooden plugs that kept popping out of his Champagne containers.
However, as a natural product cork has an inherent variability, with some corks providing the tight seal required, while others allow some oxygen to sneak past. Even more of a concern has been a nasty mould called TCA that imparts musty aromas and flavours. But cork's monopoly created complacency and producers were seen to be doing little to sort out this stinky issue.
That was until new closures, such as synthetic corks and screwcaps, came on to the scene and were embraced by winemakers frustrated that up to 10 per cent of their product could be spoiled by its packaging.
Of these it's the screwcap that's really taken off.
The practicality of the cap and reassurance that the wine will be taint-free, has meant that drinkers are now sending back wines if they're not under screwcap!
Caps have not been without their critics, some blaming their near-hermetic seal for the creation of eggy smelling hydrogen sulphides in wine. This was a problem in the early days, but appears to have been largely rectified through more appropriate winemaking.
"Sulphide problems have been around well before the advent of screwcaps," says Michael Brajkovich MW of Kumeu River and a leading force in New Zealand's Screwcap Initiative. He counters questions over a wine's ability to age well under the screwcap through tastings of his own trials and of screwcapped rieslings up to 25 years old from Australia.
However, there are still those that maintain this remains a risk and that greater oxygen ingress than is possible under screwcaps is required for the successful ageing of wine. A number of wineries are hedging their bets and are using screwcaps for whites made for early drinking and sticking to corks for their reds and wines for aging. Many aren't using traditional cork, but Diams: a cork-shaped closure constructed from tiny particles of cork dust from which any TCA has been zapped by the same technology used to decaffeinate coffee.
But cork may well have had its day. There's a definite whiff of desperation about the emotive environmental card being played in the current promotional campaign run by major cork company Amorim. Rather than hear about how the CO2-offsetting cork forests are being jeopardised, I'd rather find out what they've been doing to clean up their act.
Some corkers under screwcap
Koha Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc $12.95
A big, bold and vibrant tropically fruited sauvignon from the Tohu stable offering amazing value for money with its fresh citrus notes and subtle strands of oregano and fennel.
(From www.blackmarket.co.nz)
Grasshopper Rock Earnscleugh Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006 $29.90
The first release from this small Otago producer is just what a young vine pinot should be: light and silky, with fresh and pretty cherry and plum fruit, notes of rose petals, violets and spice and some complex minerally depth.
(From Glengarry, Caro's, Scenic Cellars, Hamilton Wine Co and fine wine shops.)
Clearview Hawkes Bay Semillon 2007 $24-$25
Rich and intense, this semillon made with a soupcon of sauvignon blanc is bursting with zesty lime, fleshy white peach fruit, toasty spicy oak and hints of honey.
(From Advintage, Don Johnson's, Hillcrest Fine Wines, Scenic Cellars, Wine Vault.)
