CORK v SYNTHETICS
When we open a bottle of wine and discover an odd odour,
like wet cardboard or a musty type smell, what do we think or say? The wine is
corked, yes we blame the cork. It has been reported that as many as 7% of wines
are tainted and the cork is generally blamed. Is this right and is this fair to
blame the humble cork? The cork supplier we deal with give a guarantee of well
below 1% possible taint. Why the difference? I will get to this point further
into this story.
WHAT IS CORK TAINT?
Cork taint is identified as chemical called TCA, 2,4,6
trichloroanisole, an environmental contaminant. Unfortunately cork displays a
great affinity to this chemical. On the other hand historically corks were
bleached with chlorine based products. The chlorine together with certain types
of moulds, which could be present in cork, may form the TCA. Modern practices
have seen the use of chlorines diminish and mostly disappear from cork
treatments thus reducing the possibility of TCA production. We are getting
closer to the answer. Further to this, there are pre-treatments in existence,
which greatly reduce the presence of harmful chemicals that could be enclosed in
the cork structure. The most advanced cork pre-treatment plant in the world is
located in Italy, it produces the cleanest corks. From there we source our
products.
WHERE DOES THE PROBLEM COME FROM?
The vast majority of wine produced in Australia is laid
down within the first few minutes of bottling and this is the start of the
problem. The cork undergoes a lot of compression to fit into the bottle neck and
it needs time to fully expand. In fact it takes several hours to fully expand.
The air space in the bottle when corked is inserted into the
bottle is also compressed producing pressure inside the bottle. So laying the
bottle down quickly can see wine being forced and trapped between the cork and
the neck of the bottle. The cork is full of air, 21%oxygen, so
TRAPPED WINE + OXYGEN = SPOILAGE
Cork suppliers recommend that wines stay upright for at
least a day before being laid down so that the pressure in the bottle has
equalised and the cork is fully expanded into the neck.
It is also strongly recommended that unused corks be well
sealed and stored correctly. Ideally only order the corks required to complete
the job at hand.
ALTERNATIVE CLOSURES
The screw top is also known as the stelvin. This sort of
closure was used for wines in the 70’s, did not receive public approval,
disappeared from the bottles but has started to make an appearance again in the
last few years.
Other closures are various synthetic, plastic, plastic
type corks.
If you have one of the expensive type screwpull cork
removers read your instructions carefully as it will tell to not use them with
synthetic closure as this will remove the Teflon coating and reduce the
efficiency of the product.
CAN SYNTHETICS GIVE TAINTS
Yes, and they do not allow for the full development of the
wine. Synthetics can also “scalp” the wines, robbing them of certain wine
aromas.
WHY THE SUDDEN PUSH FOR SYNTHETICS?
Regardless of the arguments that you will hear in the
media about corks being inferior or responsible for the vast majority of wine
spoilages the fact is that synthetic closures are inexpensive and can save the
large companies enormous sums of money.
I believe that the only use for these closures is for the
“drink now” style of wines. These stoppers allow the wine to receive too
much oxygen as the synthetic material’s sealing ability diminishes, after about
6 months. The wine will develop too fast and turns a brownish colour, oxidised
wine. We may well use these closures in the future but their use would be
limited to white wines that are not expected to be aged. You should ask yourself
if the synthetic closures are so good then why do we not see the “TOP SHELF”
under them?
MY PERSONAL BIAS
I like cork as it is
·
Natural and seals a natural
product, glass, and protects a natural product, wine.
·
Cork is attached to the
romance associated with wine and removing the cork from the bottle is part of
that romance and the ceremony.
Taste
award winning local wines today at ILNAM Estate
ILNAM Estate is
a unique tourist attraction as we are the only winery on
the Tweed. ILNAM Estate Winery is located just 20 minutes from the Gold Coast
Airport, 40 minutes from Surfers Paradise and only 1 hour 20 minutes from
Brisbane.
ILNAM ESTATE WINERY- 750 Carool Road,
Carool NSW- Ph (07) 5590 7703
