Ever wonder about the quality of wine found in screw top bottles (also known as Stelvin closures)? I often hear comments such as, “Those aren’t very good wines” or “That reminds me of my cheap wine drinking days in college.” It’s true that for many years, screw caps were associated with poor quality wines and for good reason. However, in the past decade or so, more and more wineries are switching to Stelvins.
For example, it’s hard to find a white wine from New Zealand or Australia (or even Germany) that doesn’t have a screw top, and many red wine producers are heading that way, too.
Why? I’m glad you asked. First, in general, screw caps are cheaper to produce than purchasing cork. Second, some estimates put worldwide winery losses as high as 5 to 8% of all corked bottles due to cork taint or rot. Finally, not all wine is made to be age-worthy.
In fact, it’s commonly misunderstood that all wines get better with age. The truth is that most wines you buy off the shelf at a wine retailer are meant to be drunk relatively soon. A general gauge is that most reds should be consumed with 2-3 years and most whites within a year or two of purchase. Corks do allow micro-oxidation (which helps with aging); whereas, screw tops don’t. However, unless you’ve bought a fairly expensive wine, then you don’t need to worry about cellaring it, though there are exceptions to the rule when along comes a very nice, inexpensive wine that will hold up to several years of aging under the right conditions.
On the whole, though, if you buy a few bottles of a nice Sangiovese hoping to save a couple for that 40th birthday, then there is a good chance that what was lovely and delicious last night with a meaty marinara sauce will taste closer to vinegar in five or six years. In short, don’t dismiss a bottle of wine just because it doesn’t have a cork—you’ll be missing out on some great wines if you do.