I like wine. I hate corks. They are a pain. Matter of fact, the more wine I drink, of an evening, the more problematic those pesky corks become. Problem is, “good” wine always comes in corked bottles. I fail to see how screw caps on decent wine could detract from the quality of the beverage. Seems that they’d like to make it easier for us to actually get at the stuff. But then I really don’t know a doggone thing about wine. Please advise.
The simplest answer to your question might be “because Orson Welles is dead.”
A more complex explanation will involve the frictional and insulational properties of cork and its ability to preserve the aging process within the bottle, which I leave to those of us whose first choice is not Thunderbird, as mine is.
Because corks, as Sofa mentioned, preserve wine and let it age better than a screw cap. Some wine gets better with age, and a screw cap just can’t do as good a job as cork can at keeping air out (the bane of “better” wines). Wine is generally acidic, and metal can create an off taste in wine, as well as eventually deteriorate. A gasket on a metal cap eventually deteriorates without some form of moisture, so it’s a no win situation. Wines that are meant to be drunk without further aging come in screw caps (TJ swann, Gallo, Boone’s Farm, etc.). Wines that require a bit of aging are in corks.
So next time you have a party, and you have nothing but corked wine, pull all the corks for fast action prior. It won’t hurt the wine as long as it will be drunk that night. If you are just looking to get plowed on wine, I recommend a good corked bottle of “good stuff” to start off with, and when it’s done, drag out the “box o’ wine” for the finish line:)
Mocker, that’s rich!
Actually, it’s tradition. There is a stigma attached to wines with “screw tops” and it’s not good.
To be honest, it doesn’t matter much. There needs to be some buffer between the wine and the air and a plastic “cork” does that as well as real cork.
Most wines aren’t aged for longer than 10 years, and any “cork” will do.
Hear! Hear! for Sue
Cork has been around for hundreds of years.
The screw top has been around for a lot less.
And the screw top has seemed to show up on some
pretty horrible vintages (Thunderbird and MD20/20 come to mind).
Fact is, cork deteriorates after a while, and a
screw top would probably be much better for things like
old Port. Just convince the old winemakers of this.
I have to agree with Sue and Doug on this one. Having lived slap bang in a vineyard on the Deutsche Weinstrasse for more years than I care to remember I have had plenty of exposure to grapes, wine, farmers and probably got a touch of the noble rot myself.
The fact of the matter is that plastic corks are every bit as good as natural corks and somewhat cheaper too, with the added advantage of not degenerating if they are dried out (which is why you have to store wine on its side). Metal tops can react with the wine in certian circumstances so they aren’t as good, though as has been poinbted out, most wine isn’t stored long enough for that to make a difference anyway.
The main reason that the market hasn’t completely gone over to plastic corks is because of tradition and the association of plastic and metal stoppers with ‘plonk’. Personaly I blame the French, but then I’m English so who else am I supposed to blame, the Welsh?
I heard a fair bit of debate about plastic vs. cork a few months back. It was based primarily of the effect on the wine.
My impression was most wine “experts” came down on the side of “real” cork, argueing plastic could also taint wine (cause it to be “corked”). I think there is still some snobbery there.
Connected was an article on the environmental effect of the wine industry turning to plastic or screw top. Currently cork forests are maintained to supply the industry, with beneficial effects to wildlife and the environment. Without the demand, the land could well be turned to other use, and all those birdies and squirrels will be out of a home. Plus, of course cork is biodegradable, and I would guess takes less energy to form into “corks”. So that’s good enough reason to continue to have real cork as far as I’m concerned. But, yes, in terms of convenience, screw tops are a lot easier.
Almost all of the wine companies in Australia would change to screw tops overnight if they thought they could do it without losing market share.
The advantages of cork are so minimal that the additional cost of importing halfway round the world from Portugal would not stack up against the cost effectivenes of a plastic or screw closure.
in fact, there is a company in South Australia that specialises in synthetic corks, whose business has grown exponentially over the past copule of years precisely because natural cork is so unreliable.
Here’s a thoughtful article on the topic
To sum it up: there are many reasons to favor synthetic closures over natural cork (screw caps are out of the question). Apparently there is something called “cork taint” that is affecting more and more wine. It is an off taste caused by the metabolism of a microbe that lives in natural cork.
In favor of natural cork is (first and foremost) tradition, but also some evidence that it aids and abets the wine aging process.
Because some people have taste. :D:D
AWB, wine snob since 1995.
Just an aside on the issue of “natural” vs “artificial”, when talking about wine…
Much of the sentiment favouring cork could be due to its natural origin and traditional use. Similarly, many people who are ignorant of current wine-making techniques believe that wine is made in wooden barrels, just as it was in bygone years. Wood is warmly regarded because of its natural and traditional values.
But most commercial wine, even the premium vintages, are made in large stainless steel vats or tanks, where the process can be monitored and controlled in minute detail. No-one would argue that modern vintage wines are generally of a much higher quality than ever before, even though they are made in “unnatural” and “untraditional” ways.
Surely the same logic can be applied to the method in which bottles are sealed. It’s just a matter of re-educating the consumer into realising that the cork may be the reason why an expensive wine tastes like battery acid.
And just what did we do to even merit mention in who’s to blame for the continued use of corks? 
My experience with plastic corks is limited, but I have noticed that they are more difficult to remove than natural corks. Well, usually anyway. Plastic corks do have the advantage of not breaking up as you’re trying to remove them.
Huw
Few things are as burdened with snobbery as wine. Not too long ago no one with any sophistication at all would even consider a rose’. Then Sutter Homes came along with its White Zinfandel, called it a “blush” instead of a “rose’”, and celebrated its beautiful color. Now you see rose’s everywhere, but don’t ever call them that or people will gasp that “It’s not a rose’, it’s a BLUSH!”
So until someone comes up with a clever way of marketing a screw cap for wine, we’re stuck with corks.
Actually, that’s OK with me. I kind of like the ritual of the cork, and the ingenious gadgetry that people have come up with for wine openers.
It seems possible to me to **make a screw-top from cork[/b}. Why couldn’t cork be somehow tempered and fashioned into screwtops? Perhaps such a top could be sealed with foil for distribution.
If needed, I suppose the foil could have “breathing” perforations, if gas exchange between the wine & the outside air is necessary.
This is great. Thank you all for your responses. I’m learning in leaps and bounds. I always suspected that it was a desire to adhere to “tradition” regarding the use of corks and not plastic or metal screws. And it never occurred to me that entire cork forest were maintained for the wine industry alone. I love learning stuff like this! As far as “taste” goes, I gotta admit, I probably don’t have much. 
I tend to prefer “better” wine for marathon gulping sessions because I end up with less of a hangover the next day. I’m such a Philistine!!
Screw caps are far superior to corks. They don’t leak or admit oxgen, and are cheaper to manufacture. However, as is always the case, political considerations have impeded technical progress. A few years back, Spain and Portugal petitioned the European Parliament, to prohibit the use of screw-top wine bottles. This was done to save a few hundred jobs in the cork-growing industry.
No doubt a few well-placed bribes were essential to this!
Once upon a time, a group of oh-so-uppercrusty, self anointed to varying degrees oenophiles were gathered round oaken monuments to various vintner’s supposed best efforts. All good and decent people to be sure, who had tendencies to pontificate on the delicacies of fruit of the vine.
Preparations included the cleansing, sterilization, and label removal of various shapes and sizes of bottles, into which were decanted assorted price range, real and purported quality wines.
Some of the bottles had corks, others screw caps.
One at a time, samples were poured from each. The participants took notes.
All of the capped bottles contained what others might have rated as the best wines.
It was obvious to everyone that a bluff was being attempted.
Glasses were swirled, legs observed, and jargon let loose in truly colorful and de rigueur fashion.
The most noticeable outcome was that on significant average, every wine poured from a capped bottle received a substantially lower rating than those from corked bottles did.
Sobbery took a shot in the arm that night.
Perception, real or imagined, taints our tastes.
Quote:
“But most commercial wine, even the premium vintages, are made in large stainless steel vats or tanks, where the process can be monitored and controlled in minute detail. No-one would argue that modern vintage wines are generally of a much higher quality than ever before, even though they are made in “unnatural” and “untraditional” ways.”
They may start out in steel, but most of them are aged in wood barrels, and the finer the wine, the smaller the barrel, in my winery touring experience.
My prediction is that plastic corks will gradually replace real cork in many wines, in the way that a wax circle has replaced the foil top. I had a South African wine with a plastic cork the other day. It wasn’t a great vintage, but it was certainly completely respectable. They matched the color of the cork to the bottle, which might appeal to wineries looking for a distinctive “look” to make their wine stand out from the others on the shelf.
Most just call it “nasty.”