Corks, T-closures, screw caps and various types of Port

[Roy Hersh]

There are so many cork styles available to the producers. The Port shippers are quite close to the oak forests that produce the corks and they are in very good stead with Amorim and other top Portuguese cork producers (Amorim also has interests in the Port trade and other wine ventures in Portugal).

When looking at the potential for aging Vintage Port, I like having a natural cork and typically find that the % of corked Port overall and even Vintage Port in particular is lower than that of what I usually find with the rest of my bubbly/white/red wine drinking.

Some people feel that the extra long Vintage Port corks that most companies use, to be a pain during the extraction process ... especially old corks that tend to dry out and crumble or break apart. So do you have a preference for a shorter cork or longer cork with VINTAGE PORT.

Now onto screw caps. Whle in Portugal last week, Canadian wine writer Anthony Gismondi (Editor-in-Chief of WineAccess) and I had charged discussion on the pros and cons of cork and screw caps. He is a big proponent of screw caps and believes that as the Australians have proved, any fine wine can age well with the use of a screw cap. My opinion was that for Vintage Port, natural cork is the only way to go. The argument/discussion continued for quite awhile over dinner.

We then got to LBVs and he stated his unequivocal belief that especially with LBVs screw caps should be the only closure used. I expressed my opinion that a T-closure was my favorite and that I preferred it even to a driven cork ... specifically with LBVs. I think that most people don't finish a bottle the first or even second night and even more importantly is how this is definitely the case in the restaurant/hotel trade. T-closures made it very easy to "re-use" the bottles over and over. Anthony on the other hand felt that a T-closure still left the Port susceptible to being corked, which in his opinion is unacceptable ... given that screw caps remove TCA infection 100% of the time.

We agreed to disagree, although I did mention that with your basic Ruby/Tawny or even Ruby/Tawny Reserve, that I would have no issue with a screw cap.

Obviously there is no right or wrong answer here, just different ways of looking at the same painting. You've now heard two opinions, what do you think? Do you have a preference for vintage Port corks (length?) or would you prefer another type of closure and what about other styles of Port?

[Luc Gauthier]

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder .
Having all of a few years in the Port world , I prefer the longer corks .
The word Vintage is the key .
If I'm going to drink something special , I'm willing to invest the time and effort to make It an enjoyable occasion .

[Todd Pettinger]

Not sure how many producers (or consumers for that matter) are going to side with buddy over the use of screw caps on their flagship VP... can you imagine ripping off the foil cap on your 2007 Noval Nacional only to find underneath a screw cap???

Luc brings up a very good point. Vintage is key. It is special. And in a world of traditions, in a land where change comes slowly (i.e. some quintas just got electricity WHEN?!?!) , a screw cap is likely WAY too radical a change.

There is the perception amongst a lot of wine consumers that the screw cap is for cheap crap. Again, Vintage Port is a premium product and consumers expect something a little better.

I would be curious to learn if there has been any studies done on the effects of the plastic seal that they often use under the screw cap Or whatever plastic-like coating is painted/sprayed/bonded onto the inside) and whether that could possibly taint the Port over the 30+ years that these bottles will be asleep in the cellars? Yes, it is true that TCA MAY contaminate Port in real cork, but is there a chance that plastic will leech any type of flavour into my VP? While Australia may have proven that premium wines can be made and capped with a screw cap, I'm willing to bet nobody has tried aging anything worthwhile for 20-40 years in a screw cap.

It would be an interesting experiment for any producer dabbling with the idea to do a couple of dozen special-run bottles with screw caps and hold back the same number of driven cork bottles. One could allow them to rest for 20-30 years and test along the way, even blind, to see if there is any noticeable difference between the two.

Now if only I was a VP producer in Portugal... perhaps I could try this first-hand... :?

Todd

[Kris Henderson]

For Vintage Port, a long driven cork is the only way to go. These are meant to age for 30+ years and I fear a shorter cork would fail too soon. I'd have to taste a mature Vintage Port under screwcap before deciding whether or not a screwcap is appropriate. Does such a thing exist?

For traditional unfiltered LBV's I prefer a driven cork, length doesn't matter.

For the filtered LBV's that currently use a T-cork, a screwcap would be fine. I don't recall ever having a corked LBV but the extra insurance of a screwcap wouldn't hurt. I don't think these are meant to age so the longevity of the closure, or how well the closure allows the wine to age isn't an issue.

Similar to filtered LBV's, Tawny Ports with an indication of age would be well served with a screwcap.

Colheita's can age beautifully. I prefer to see a long driven cork.

For low end Ruby's and Tawny's I see no reason not to use a screwcap.

[Lars F]

Not sure how many producers (or consumers for that matter) are going to side with buddy over the use of screw caps on their flagship VP... can you imagine ripping off the foil cap on your 2007 Noval Nacional only to find underneath a screw cap???

Well, imagine uncorking your 2007 Nacional and finding it corked and undrinkable after storing it for half a century

The corck screw cap discussion is unfortunately very much based on emotion rather than rational facts. For VP's which needs storing for decades I imagine there is no evidence as to how well it will evolve with a screw cap, or even if it will hold for that long, but for the rest I wouldn't mind a screw cap.

-Lars

[Moses Botbol]

Why mess with traditon on Vintage Port? I am for corks as they have been on VP. The only ports I would consider screw caps on are anything filtered.

As Roy mentioned, I could see the use of T-corks on LBV.

I'd like to see one producer do a run of VP, even a signle quinta with screw caps and we can re-visit this post 20 years after bottling to complete the thread, lol...

[Roy Hersh]

Australia is the leader in screw cap usage and even some more expensive Aussie wines have been produced with them. There are producers there that have been testing screw caps and their ability to allow long term aging, but I believe these trials only began in the mid-1990s, so the empirical data is only a bit over a decade old at this point.


As to Ports, I am not aware of any groups (maybe M. Champalimaud) that are currently testing screw cap usage. As traditionalists that are so close to the cork forests and to the producers of cork, it would take a heck of a lot to make the switch, but although I don't believe VP will ever come with anything but a long driven cork ... I am not so sure about the inexpensive basic Ports.

[Al B.]

I'm sitting in an airport at the moment so I don't have access to my books, but I have a feeling that Penfolds and some of the other premium Aussie producers have been experimenting with non-cork closures for significantly longer that a decade - 2 to 3, I believe. However, if I recall correctly, at least some of these earlier experiments were with Crown Cork closures rather than screw cap. However, the experiment is still of interest as this will allow the producers to follow the way in which their wines will mature without the perceived porosity of the cork.

It is also worth noting that while the technology behind a cork is fairly mature having had over 300 years to be refined, the technology of the screw cap closure is developing so rapidly that you could argue that even the earlier wine maturing experiments under screw caps may be of only minor interest.

I should also add that there is a body of empirical evidence that screw cap closures bring their own set of spoilage problems. It seems that producers have to be far more careful of the levels of sulphur that are added to stabilize wine if a screw cap is to be used compared to a cork closure. It appears that a screw cap as currently designed creates a more reductive aging environment than does a cork and therefore any excess sulphur will generate sulphur taint as the wine matures. The cork closure seems to produce an aging environment that is more forgiving of excess sulphur being left in the wine at the end of the stabilisation process.

But as far as I am aware, no port producers have tried to parallel these experiments.

Personally, I would hope to see corks on all wines, even ruby port. Although rubies are not meant to be matured for any length of time in the bottle you still occasionally come across a 50+ year old ruby and it's always a really interesting experiment to try it. Without a cork, we might lose these little idiosyncracies forever.

Alex

[Al B.]

I meant to include in my last post a suggestion that this could be the basis of the next "Ask the Producer" question. Something along the lines of:

"Are you conducting any experiments to investigate whether alternatives to cork as closures for port would be viable?"

Alex

[Todd Pettinger]

I meant to include in my last post a suggestion that this could be the basis of the next "Ask the Producer" question. Something along the lines of:

"Are you conducting any experiments to investigate whether alternatives to cork as closures for port would be viable?"

Alex

I agree it would be a good topic. Roy might receive a whole lot of "No Way!" answers, but if he asked the question in a way to inquire about the opinion as to WHY or WHY NOT alternatives were being investigated, that would likely give us some interesting responses from the producers.

Todd

[Nikolaj Winther]

In theory I'm all for screw-caps.

But something got me thinking. Is it really that ideal for VERY long ageing, such as the finest bordeaux and especially VP? Personally I'm worried about corosion. I've seen many a metal cap with corosion and some close to leaking.

Imagine if you keep your wine in those damp conditions that are recommended (don't we all?). I would imagine, that after 20+ years, some of these caps will have coroded through, and even more so after 50 or 100 years.

But how about recorking? Wouln't it be very easy with a screw-cap compared to regular corks?

[Andy Velebil]

here is my

I am a firm believer that Vintage Ports should use the long, highest grade corks available. As an example, I hate the little short corks that Krohn's uses. I'm sure they save about $0.35 a bottle/cork, and for the lbv's and cheapies they are OK. but they use these short corks on their top Ports too. Come now, if I'm paying $40-200+ for an old Colheita or VP, I expect the best corks to be used.

T-Corks are fine for filtered LBV's and basic Rubies and Tawny's, and I prefer them. As they are just easier to use and re-cork. however, for Unfiltered LBV's, the long top-quality corks should also be used.

As for Screw-Caps, I would have no problem with them being used on the cheap tawny's and Rubies and cheap white Ports. However, I am still not convinced they are the best way to go for anything but the low-end ports. Maybe in time, when they are proven, but even screw caps are not 100%. If the cap comes loose, is installed wrong, etc., can all lead to failure. TCA or a faulty screw cap...I'll take my chances with TCA damage.

I also would not want screw-caps for filtered LBV's. I've had several old filtered LBV's with a T-cork, where the T-cork was still in good shape and the wine was still good. Based on my limited experience, even filtered LBV's can age and I would prefer a real cork to plug the bottle.