Is it just me or is there something twisted about the union of the screw-cap and wine bottle?

For the past several years, the wine media has faithfully covered and taken part in the cork versus cap debate. The July Issue of Wine Spectator magazine includes an article titled “Screw Caps Gain Acceptance.” The story relates that a 2005 poll conducted by WS found that a great majority (~80%) of the respondents preferred cork over screw-caps. Could things have changed so quickly? Say it ain’t so!

The way I see it, passionate, romantic types prefer cork, while brut-dry pragmatists don’t really care. OK, so some do care and for good reason. Some have estimated that the wine industry loses up to 15% of its product per year due to cork-related failures (primarily TCA tainting). Others put that figure at a more palatable 1-2%. Pick a figure between the two estimates, and you’re guesstimate is probably in the ballpark.

From an impractical, romantic, and financially insensitive standpoint (an accountant I’m not as mine will attest), that’s the price that you pay to win my business. I have to believe that vinters make some allowance in their pricing structure to offset spoiled product. And, while even 2% is a palpable loss, winemakers have somehow managed to prosper for centuries despite living with corky wine and a myriad of other quality-related maladies.

A quick aside for you trivia buffs: rumor has it that in the 1600s, a matchmaking Benedictine Monk by the name of Dom Perignon (yes, of Champagne fame) introduced the Spanish cork to the French bottle in an effort to preserve his precious, bubbly sparkling wine. Brother Perignon allegedly found that wooden stoppers wrapped in oil-soaked rags just didn’t do the trick. (Apparently, the concept didn’t die at the Abbey, but my version isn’t exactly a rags to riches story either. Some clever anarchist probably found that stuffing a fuel soaked rag in a bottle of alcohol was better suited for a more sinister application. You guessed it. Molotov cocktail anyone?).

Like Dom, I guess that I’m just a bit old fashioned. Unscrewing the wine bottle at a nice restaurant, no matter how much a talented sommelier adapts his presentation, is just not the same as pulling the cork. The classy back-and-forth slide and gentle “pop” is much more appealing than “snap-crackle-hiss”, the sound a liter of root beer emits when my 14-year-old wrenches it open, sans the carbonation. In my opinion, cap twisting should be reserved for beverages like bottled soda and sparkling water.

It’s all about the tradition folks. Uncorking a bottle of wine just feels right. During a romantic dinner, a business meeting, or a visit with friends and family, it helps set the tone for the evening. Somehow, pulling the cork not only relieves the pressure in the bottle, but it helps set the day’s tensions adrift. That sigh is signal that it’s time to unwind with buddies, enjoy time with a spouse or significant other, or celebrate a business deal. Without it, wine lives on… but a small buoyant piece of the mystique dies.

Afterthoughts: Sounds and ceremony aside, some winemakers believe that the cork is critical to the maturing process, especially when it comes to reds. Others point out that corks are biodegradable, therefore better for the environment than a metallic twist top. A few humanistic types persist that the livelihoods of Portuguese cork farmers depend on wine industry demand. The rest are probably just stubborn in the old ways. Regardless of their reasoning, they all provide me with hope that the cork will survive another day.

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