I bought some Butterfly Ridge Australian wine in Carrefours. Wonderful full bodied red Carbenet Sauvingon. Superb bouquet. (I still remember) I wish I could have tasted it. The one thing about it was it had a screw top. Now in my wino days, bottles with screw tops were slightly better quality than boxes.

However I have been reliably informed that a lot of good wine makers are discarding corks in favour of the screw top. Apparently too many modern day corks are failing.

What are your views? Corks or screw tops?

What are your views? Corks or screw tops?

Or plastic corks - they're also popular now, as kind of compromise.

It's a fashion / status thing, more than anything, I think. New World wants to distinguish itself from Old World by saying they are outdated with their corks. Old World uses corks as a symbol of their traditionalism and superior value.

Old world wine fans - i.e. traditionalists / snobs, whatever you want to call them (us!) will tell you that the cork adds something to the wine and is thus indispensable.

New world wine fans - or just those who can stomach litres of Chilean merlot - will tell you that it doesn't make a blind bit of difference, and that screw tops / plastic corks are way more convenient as they don't affect the taste, the wine never 'corks', and they're easy to replace if you don't finish the bottle in one go. Plus, modern methods of production used in making New world wines makes the cork anachronistic.

Both are probably right. Just depends on your tastes / how much of a ponce you are. Personally, I think removing the cork is part of the pleasure of drinking wine. I also prefer the more subtle flavours of a good bottle of French wine - and if you're willing to fork out the money for that, you do not want to be unscrewing the lid .

Screw tops are the big thing in Oz now. Even major wineries with very good wines are converting. Does not damage the wine in any way and eliminates the problems that a cork can bring.

Having gotten used to the idea I now prefer it. Much more convenient in several ways.

You can still drink straight from the bottle and not get pieces of cork in yer gob.

Screwtops are great.

Just ask this guy......

and they're easy to replace if you don't finish the bottle in one go.

? ? ? ? ? ?

Hey Lampy, did you buy the Cab Sav or the Merlot?

Personally, I find the Cab Sav a little peppery... whereas the Merlot is much softer on the palate.

Either way... both are quite quaffable and for an import, priced very reasonably.

To address your screw-top question, some 6 months or so ago I went to a wine club night at Royal Cliff, where we had a tasting of Ambrose Wines... also from Australia.

All the bottles were screw-top.

When queried about this development, the winemaker (from Ambrose... but trained in France, Chile and Australia) stated that this will be the preferred method of production in the future.

Me...? I rarely leave an open bottle with any residual nectar in it... so I don't really care.

Hey Lampy, did you buy the Cab Sav or the Merlot?

Personally, I find the Cab Sav a little peppery... whereas the Merlot is much softer on the palate.

Either way... both are quite quaffable and for an import, priced very reasonably.

To address your screw-top question, some 6 months or so ago I went to a wine club night at Royal Cliff, where we had a tasting of Ambrose Wines... also from Australia.

All the bottles were screw-top.

When queried about this development, the winemaker (from Ambrose... but trained in France, Chile and Australia) stated that this will be the preferred method of production in the future.

Me...? I rarely leave an open bottle with any residual nectar in it... so I don't really care.

Sorry it was not cab sav, the two ranges I bought were Merlot and Shiraz. I don't drink now, but when I opened the Merlot it had as fine an aroma as I have ever smelt in a wine. (a 2litre box of Liebfraumilch didn't smell too bad either. At least it didn't used to)

You can still drink straight from the bottle and not get pieces of cork in yer gob.

Screwtops are great.

Just ask this guy......

You HAVE been to the FC then.

Hey Lampy, did you buy the Cab Sav or the Merlot?

Personally, I find the Cab Sav a little peppery... whereas the Merlot is much softer on the palate.

Either way... both are quite quaffable and for an import, priced very reasonably.

To address your screw-top question, some 6 months or so ago I went to a wine club night at Royal Cliff, where we had a tasting of Ambrose Wines... also from Australia.

All the bottles were screw-top.

When queried about this development, the winemaker (from Ambrose... but trained in France, Chile and Australia) stated that this will be the preferred method of production in the future.

Me...? I rarely leave an open bottle with any residual nectar in it... so I don't really care.

I must be the most uncouth wine drinker ever... I just get it down me neck as quick as possible, no time to analyse the different flavours.. some of the time I don't really like the taste of that particular bottle of plonk... but it gets the job done..

totster

I must be the most uncouth wine drinker ever...

I'm sure you can cut the word 'wine' from that statement...................

There was a shortage of natural cork which takes a while to grow on (I think) a type of oak only found in Spain and Portugal, therefore an alternative was needed.

Personally I'm with Totster on this one!

Great smilie Totster

I think there's a spelling error. Would that be wine "cork-sewers"?

I've enjoyed wine since i was 15, but wouldn't dare to say one method of closing the bottle is better than the next. I buy here 5 ltr glass bottles ( in a most attractive design ) of italian rosso for less than a tenner. It tastes good from beginning to end....if i remember correctly ....hiccup.

'Servire a temperatura ambiente'

Bottoms up

I don't go for the screwtop stuff.

The pop of the cork is one of my favorite sounds.

I don't go for the screwtop stuff.

The pop of the cork is one of my favorite sounds.

and sniffing the cork is a must !

Can you immagine a Chateau Lafite with a screwtop?

Here in the UK Tesco are moving to screwcaps big time. You can buy a bottle of wine with a screw cap in Tesco that's only available with a cork in other supermarkets.

Hey Lampy, did you buy the Cab Sav or the Merlot?

Personally, I find the Cab Sav a little peppery... whereas the Merlot is much softer on the palate.

Either way... both are quite quaffable and for an import, priced very reasonably.

To address your screw-top question, some 6 months or so ago I went to a wine club night at Royal Cliff, where we had a tasting of Ambrose Wines... also from Australia.

All the bottles were screw-top.

When queried about this development, the winemaker (from Ambrose... but trained in France, Chile and Australia) stated that this will be the preferred method of production in the future.

Me...? I rarely leave an open bottle with any residual nectar in it... so I don't really care.

I must be the most uncouth wine drinker ever... I just get it down me neck as quick as possible, no time to analyse the different flavours.. some of the time I don't really like the taste of that particular bottle of plonk... but it gets the job done..

totster

yeah...screw tops are merely a convenience to get the nectar down the gullet without further ado...

any californios out there that remember the 1960s 1/2 and gallon jugs of Red Mountain (rumored to be not wine but alcohol fortified grape juice)?...how many tonnes of dope were smoked with the accompanying unscrewed gallon boddle of Red Mountain passed hand to hand...