Screw that cap/cork...

Although I do like the tradition surrounded to unCORKing a bottle (mmm, the noice when the sommelier gently slides into the cork, the swift pull and the plop that just can be the promise to a so pleasant evening...), let's be honest, it is nothing more than tradition.

What I actually want to say is:

Every
CORKTAINTED
bottle
is
one
too
many!

Oooooh, hold your horses, don't just shoot on me yet...because let's be honest, a cork is so much more than tradition.

Here comes in some discussions, talks I had with winemakers. And you can be sure, they neither do like corked bottles. Well, there is one winemaker, Manuel Marchetti just to name him, who did very recently an experiment with his wine. He has put on several of his bottles a synthetic cork (no, not a screwcap) and on other of his bottles a natural cork. As a lot of his fellow winemakers, he also was looking for a solution for corked bottles. What were his findings? Well, after one year of ageing he opened some of his bottles (in this specific experiment it was all about dolcetto wines), both the ones with synthetic corks as the ones with natural corks. And guess what, the one with natural corks where far more drinkable. They had undergone some evolution, while the synthecic ones were still closed, less evoluted. Second year same thing. It was only as of the third year that the ones with synthetic corks started to open.

So what was his conclusion: "I'll take natural corks". Plain and simple reason: (most of the) people do not stack their wines for three or more years away. They want instant pleasure, a wine should be (in most cases) drinkable at the moment you buy it. So he has chosen drinkability.

Conclusion: I just hate corktainted bottles, but I love drinkability (and, ok, I admit some traditionality). As this being said, I'm at least for one category sure: young wines (be it white, red, rosé, vin gris, blush, etc.) who are just not for keeping and who are drinkable as of day 1. In this case pretty please winemaker put on some synthetic closure! Hey in this case I avoid that unpleasant smell of cork (just so yukky, think of wet cardbord that is lying in your cellar for some time), and numbers range from 1% to 10% of the bottles.

Because what is it with screwcaps? They just got themselves that ugly image of cheap chateau migraine plonk, they are the hunchback of Notre Dame, the Beast...but they can turn into a beauty...and are on their way to conquering the wineworld.

And on this bombshell, I'm going to open me a nice bottle of wine with a glass cork (yeees).

Have a nice wine today (with cork, screwcap, synthetic cork, glass cork, whatever)!