Cork or Screw Cap: Which is the best stopper?

Cork v.s., screw cap is still being debated, but more overseas than in Australia.

Within our range, we produce some wines with screw caps, some with corks.

Pluses: On the positive side, corks make a subtle and usually positive contribution to the aroma of a wine not unlike a wooden barrel. Neither synthetic corks nor screw caps can provide this

Minuses: When a wine is 'corked', it has a mouldy character. Fortunately it has become increasingly rare as the cork industry has improved its handling practices. In the past, it has been known to affect up to three percent of a batch of corks. Unfortunately it's impossible to know which ones are bad until you use them. Rest assured, however, we stand ready to replace or refund at your discretion for any 'corked' wine you may purchase from us. Being a natural and slightly porous material, occasionally a cork can allow wine to leak through. In our experience, this has never effected wine quality so long as the bottle was kept on it's side, and we often use leaky bottles we come across for tasting stock. When the wine containing high carbon dioxide levels is left in the car with windows up on a hot day, the hot wine pushes the cork from the bottle due to the expansion of alcohol.

In due course we will know whether a dry red wine of tannic constitution is better off under cork or screw-cap, particularly as it gets older.