Paul White, D.Phil, writes in the March/April issue of Santé Magazine about the continuing screw cap versus cork debate and offers results from the latest research and some great insights.
For one thing, Mr. White claims, "That far too many wine writers and wineries jumped on the screw-cap bandwagon prematurely and turned a blind eye to its shortcomings." The reason? According to White, "With reputations and potential recall liability at stake, it's doubtful they'll be drawing attention to the screw-cap inadequacies soon."
At a Cal Poly seminar we attended, Kathy and I did learn from Alan Kinne (winemaker for York Mountain and Martin-Weyrich Winery) about how wines have to made differently when screw caps are to be used. Why? It's something called "postbottling sulfide reduction." What it means to us, the wine sipping pubic is, to quote Dr. White, "At obvious fault levels it dominates wine aromas with progressively stinkier, sulfur like notes (struck flint, cabbage, rotten egg, garlic, hydrogen sulfide...)." Pairs well with deviled eggs I bet!
He goes on to explain that predicting this negative sulfide reduction beforehand is tantamount to a lottery because vintaged wine has an unmeasurable tendency for reduction known as its redox potential.
Paul White's advice to sommeliers, retailers and consumers? Be as cautious as a cat when approaching a screw capped wine that won't be consumed within six months to a year after bottling. Also, some varietals are more prone to reduction (e.g., Dolcetto, Pinotage, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc).
One indication of the seriousness of this matter is the furious race by manufacturers to develop new oxygen-permeable liners. Turns out, wine needs to breathe even while it's in the bottle. Corks allow this, tightly sealed tin caps don't. And the wines get revenge on being smothered by turning into a real stinker.
No comments:
Post a Comment