Whilst we're not completely tech inept here at Plonk, we often tend to shy away from rapid uptake of the new and shiny objects. Maybe it’s stubbornness growing with age, or a desire to hold on to more formative memories.

That being said, if one doesn't adapt, you can quickly be left behind. But is that the case in the world of wine? Although developments are happening all the time in the industry - from vineyard treatments to differing degrees of intervention in the winery – wine has more or less retained a large element of tradition – be that for better or for worse. 

One area though that has for decades now caused the most noteworthy contention is inarguably the age old debate of bottle closure – corks vs screw caps. Old school vs new school.

Most of you will have been subjected to aspersions cast over the validity of a wine’s quality due to the metal held atop the bottle. But with advancements in innovation, is this long-held battle of David and Goliath swinging away from the historic behemoth that is cork?

Cork - pros & cons

“A cork is always a sign of better quality”. How many times have you heard that before? I can’t say with any certainty if this was once true decades prior, but I can say is that isn’t necessarily true nowadays.

The reason it rings on though, is due to the fact that historically quality wines were synonymous with ageing, and cork is the most proven material to facilitate this. The porous nature of cork allows oxygen to interact with flavours at a slow rate, which in turn incites slow moving chemical reactions within the wine, thereby changing the composition of said flavours.

Lovely stuff right! But there is a constant burgeoning field of producers creating wines that are bloody beautiful in their youth, and are meant to be enjoyed as such, therefore not always necessitating a cork. So cork is good for ageing, but not all quality wines are enclosed with a cork.

What else has this age old closure got going for it? Sustainability! Whether they knew it or not, winemakers were well ahead of their time in their use of products when crafting their output. Cork is of course a natural, renewable material, and one of very few that are malleable enough to hold the contents inside a glass bottle.

But, our old foe cork taint is always a threat. Cork isn’t the most reliable of materials. And this diversion from homogeneity means that some can be affected by a fungus that makes the wine smell like wet cardboard. No thanks!

Screw cap - pros & cons

So, we’ve covered some of these pros in the cork section – quality wines aren’t always synonymous with ageing. Ergo – screw tops work. Is that their lot though?

Screw caps carry no fear of our aforementioned taint. Not only that, but advancements are being made in the breathability of screw caps, meaning that wine of 5+ years of genuine quality and longevity is starting to shine through.

And not only that – but how many times have you been out and been caught short by a pesky cork without the necessary accoutrement to remove it?!

Finishing thoughts

The astute wine or environmental enthusiasts amongst us might also have two other burgeoning questions.

Crown caps (as in the ones you find on beer bottles) are becoming ever more common place in the wine world. This is most often seen with “pet-nat” (pétillant natural) wines.

The process in making a pet-nat means corking with a wire cage atop isn’t required. Not to mention less waste given all good quality sparkling wines will be sealed with a crown cap at some point before being corked and the neck foiled in the more traditional way.

Which leads us to the question of what the point of the foil around the top of a wine bottle is? What was once argued as a necessity for storage and protection during the ageing process (which has been proven not to be required for these purposes), nowadays seems largely redundant given that the vast majority of wine is consumed immediately after purchase.

Arguably you could say there’s a cleaner look from bottles that are naked around the neck, but that is subjective. Either way, as small as the inclusion of foil on a wine bottle may seem, it is largely unnecessary in this day and age, and removing it at source undoubtedly contributes that bit more to reducing our impact.