{"id":50,"date":"2009-03-16T16:54:49","date_gmt":"2009-03-16T20:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/?p=50"},"modified":"2010-11-23T21:16:43","modified_gmt":"2010-11-24T01:16:43","slug":"pop-goes-the-cork-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/pop-goes-the-cork-or-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop Goes the Cork – Or not?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"popping-cork\"<\/a>The era was the late 1600s in France. The man was Dom Pierre Perignon—a Benedictine monk credited with introducing many of today\u2019s modern winemaking techniques.\u00a0 His innovations include the annual close pruning of the vines, an emphasis on minimal handling of the harvested fruit and the gentle processing of the grapes during fermentation.<\/p>\n

In case his name sounds a bit familiar, it should.\u00a0Over\u00a0two centuries after his death a wine would be named in his honor.\u00a0 Dom Perignon, the world famous champagne that retails for $120 a bottle or more.<\/p>\n

But the Dom\u2019s real contribution to the world of wine was his use of cork to seal a bottle.\u00a0 The mists of time cannot verify for certain the good monk was the very first vintner to stick a cork in a bottle.\u00a0 But the historical record strongly points to him as the creator of the single most important technological advancement in the production of wine.<\/p>\n

Prior to the marriage of the cork and the bottle, wine had to be enjoyed within a year of its production.\u00a0 If our ancestors delayed drinking it, the precious nectar would turn to vinegar.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, there were exceptions.\u00a0 Wine could be adulterated with numerous additives to preserve its health; among these were seawater, pine pitch and lead.\u00a0 Yes, lead.<\/p>\n

The Romans particularly liked using grape syrup boiled in leaden pots to enhance and preserve their wine.\u00a0 Modern wine drinkers have a hard time getting their palate around the idea of lead as an additive to wine.\u00a0 But it actually did sweeten and preserve it.\u00a0 It also killed a lot of Romans.\u00a0 In fact, some historians posit that the fall of the Roman Empire was due in large part to the lead poisoning of its intelligentsia.<\/p>\n

The advent of sealing a bottle of wine, with a properly sized cork that blocked air from oxidizing the liquid, was a major breakthrough in winemaking.\u00a0 It also eliminated the need to add harsh preservatives.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wine could safely age and become greater than its original self.\u00a0 And we think the iPod was a neat idea.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"corks\"<\/a>For over three hundred years, cork was the closure of choice for winemakers around the world.\u00a0 But an unfortunate situation developed in the 1980s that threaten to end the cork\u2019s dynasty. Stinky wine.\u00a0 More wine began smelling like moldy, damp newspapers.\u00a0 In the patois of the wine industry, the wine was \u201ccorked.\u201d\u00a0 Up to 8% of wine was tainted with this malodorous aroma.<\/p>\n

The cause of the problem was largely a failure of the cork industry to listen and respond to the complaints of its customers.\u00a0 Cork taint occurs because of a mold that develops due to the use of chlorine to whiten the naturally brown cork.\u00a0 Since Portugal and Spain produce over eighty percent of the world\u2019s cork, producers felt they had a natural monopoly and did not heed the discontent that was breeding.<\/p>\n

New Zealand and Australia struck first.\u00a0 Convinced that a significant percentage of their cork orders were of second-rate quality, vintners Down Under began experimenting with screw caps.\u00a0 Today, ninety-five percent of white wines coming out of New Zealand are sealed with a screw cap.\u00a0 Australia\u2019s volume is a close second.\u00a0 But more importantly, winemakers worldwide began shifting to the new seal and abandoning cork\u2019s three hundred year old legacy.<\/p>\n

In concert with the attack on cork, other types of closures began to appear along with the screw cap.\u00a0 Technical corks\u2014bits of ground cork glued together in the shape of its real brother, and synthetic corks\u2014plastic shaped into the familiar plug, also were being introduced.\u00a0 Winemakers increasingly tried to assure themselves, and more importantly, their customers, that the effort in producing a quality bottle of wine would not be negated when the cork was removed.\u00a0 Aroma is an integral part of wine\u2019s enjoyment.\u00a0 A bottle emitting an odor similar to a newspaper caught in a summer shower did not excite winemakers who knew their original product smelled like ambrosia.<\/p>\n

<\/a>So what does the future hold for the cork sealed wine bottle?\u00a0 The jury is still deliberating.\u00a0 The battle of the titans appears to be between the cork and the screw cap.\u00a0 Both technical and synthetic corks are gaining adherents for wine meant to be consumed young. But these alternative closures might have drawbacks, including the question of whether too much air is permitted to enter the bottle during extended aging.\u00a0 If this turns out to be a fact, wine–particularly red wine–would suffer the woes of oxidization over a long cellaring period.\u00a0 Not a good thing for a high priced bottle of Bordeaux.<\/p>\n

Today, the use of cork has declined from 95% to 72% of market share but is still the predominate method of sealing a bottle. Large producers of inexpensive wine are likely to lead the way in the search for alternative closures.\u00a0 Wineries producing fine wine appear to be remaining loyal to natural cork.\u00a0 The tradition and romance of real cork, and the unique \u201cpop\u201d of a just opened bottle of wine, is difficult to replicate with a man made closure.<\/p>\n

And, cork producers are not ceding ground.\u00a0 The wine bottle closure market is a $4 billion annual business.\u00a0 The industry is fighting back to maintain its market dominance.\u00a0\u00a0 Aggressive quality control measures have been introduced and the major firms are claiming the taint problem is a thing of the past.\u00a0 Time will tell.<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t it be interesting to be able to ask Dom Perignon what he thought of a screw-capped wine?<\/p>\n

Picture the scene as the gentle monk, dressed in his flowing cloak, softly strokes his chin and murmurs, \u201cscrew caps\u2026hmmm?\u201d\u00a0 Then, hearing the monastery bells and faint strains of Gregorian chant, turns and slowly walks away without comment.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>\"monk1\"<\/a>Even the Dom would want to meditate on that question.<\/p>\n

Published February 26, 2009 in the Culpeper Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The era was the late 1600s in France. The man was Dom Pierre Perignon—a Benedictine monk credited with introducing many of today\u2019s modern winemaking techniques.\u00a0 His innovations include the annual close pruning of the vines, an emphasis on minimal handling of the harvested fruit and the gentle processing of the grapes during fermentation. In case […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n