the Fine Wine Sellers blog

In the early 2000s we began to see bottles with screw caps replacing those with corks on our off-licence and supermarket shelves. Much disappointment and debate ensued as wine enthusiasts mourned the ceremony, nostalgia and even the sound associated with popping a cork.

Some considered the screw cap a seal for only inferior or cheap bottles of wine, but today it is a method employed by many of the world’s top vineyards and even some Champagne producers, and has proved itself to be a successful technique for ageing wines.

The reason for this huge shift in manufacturing? Far more disappointing than losing a ‘pop’ to a simple ‘twist’ is the deflation – not to mention waste of money – felt when you open a bottle of carefully selected wine to serve to your dinner guests only to be hit with a nasty dose of taint or 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). In other words, your wine tastes ‘corked’, smells foul and is, quite frankly, undrinkable.

As the demand for cork has outstripped the supply – which comes from 6-9- year-old Cork Oak trees – an increasing amount of pesticides and wood preservatives were being used to prematurely age the trees. These TCA chemicals are sometimes still present in the cork and it is their reaction with the wine that is thought to cause the taint.

Screw caps have been found to have virtually no negative effects, keeping wine fresher and crisper for longer, whereas corks could affect up to 15 in every 100 bottles of wine sold. Plastic ‘corks’ were also introduced, however, have not caught on in the same way as screw caps due to the fact that they do not make a perfect seal and are a less eco-friendly alternative.

Although there are some concerns about the use of screw caps for the long-term ageing of wine, the method is generally gaining increasing support.

Wine as a subject of discussion can evoke tremendous passion, even pretension and snobbery, and this is particularly apparent in the case of a wine’s origin – distinctly whether it is ‘old world’ or ‘new world’. Some circles believe that the former is far superior to the latter.

Old world wines are those produced in Europe’s classic winemaking regions of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Austria. New world wines hail from New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Latin America and America.

Put simply, old world winemakers – often members of a long line of wine-producing families – possess a 2000-year history and the almost innate knowledge of which grapes perform best, the attributes of different soil types and the most prolific growing areas. Whereas new world vintners – who have been growing wine for local consumption for several centuries but only importing it since the late 19^th century – must introduce modern ways and means of ensuring that they obtain the best possible performance from their grapes. These include employing more sophisticated irrigation techniques or adding natural composites to the wine in order to achieve the desired result.

The new and old world locations and processes have their own advantages and disadvantages, both to the winemakers and the consumers: new world vineyards enjoy a more constant climate, and are able to produce a better value product, though some would say that as a result it is a less interesting product. Many old world vintners, however, appear somewhat guilty of having rested on their laurels and so are beginning to take their cue from the competition by employing more modern techniques to create more appealing products to those simply searching for a good value bottle of plonk.

The great polemic continues…

The science of winemaking – which was thought to have begun in around 6000 BC – is known as oenology and wine production can be categorised into still and sparkling. The process starts with the harvesting of the grapes and from beginning to end can take between a few months and more than 20 years.

The grapes are picked either by hand or mechanically and are then prepared for fermentation in the winery. Fermenting the juice extracted from either red or white crushed grapes with the skins removed produces white wine. Red wine is produced from red or black grapes fermented with the skins, as it is the tannin or pigment in the skins that colours the wine. If a rosé wine is being produced, the fruit is crushed and the dark skins left in contact with the juice long enough to extract just the right colour desired by the winemaker. The most common variety of grape used in winemaking is the Vitis Vinifera, although some choose to use an alternative to grapes, such as plums or pineapples; flowers including elderflowers or rosehips, or even rice.

During the primary fermentation stage, yeast is added to convert the fruit’s naturally occurring sugars into ethanol (alcohol). This is followed by a secondary (bacterial) fermentation in which the acid content is decreased to encourage a softer taste. Sparkling wines undergo an additional fermentation stage, during which carbon dioxide is trapped within the bottle to produce the bubbles.

During the next stage – cold stabilisation, the temperature of the wine is lowered to freezing point in order for the ‘wine crystals’ (formed when potassium and tartaric acid mix) to separate from the wine. Unwanted proteins are then removed through the process of heat stabilisation.

Next, any remaining yeast is removed through filtration, and then the wine is placed in barrels or containers and stored for varying lengths of time. Wine will only be bottled once it has aged to the winemaker’s satisfaction, and commonly, different grape varieties and batches are mixed to achieve the right quality and taste.

Finally, log onto www.finewinesellers.co.uk,  fill up your glass and say ‘Cheers’!