Ask a Wino – July ’08

With Christine Go

Last month’s WINO had a “ Cork vs. Screw Cap” analysis—judging by my email, lots of you read it and are still confused by the whole cork vs. screw cap issue. As much as I like the romance of pulling a cork from a bottle, I prefer not having to worry about “corked” wine. Who wants to spend big bucks on a nice wine, age it for several years, open it for a special occasion, and discover that it smells like moldy cardboard? The statistics I’ve read say that up to 10-15% of wine corks are infested with TCA, the compound that causes that moldy stench. So, do you feel lucky? Because, the only way to avoid “corked” wine completely is to open a wine bottle that was sealed with something other than real cork. What’s your opinion? Do you prefer to take your chances with real cork, or are you OK with screw caps? And, don’t even get me started on plastic corks (ugh!). Send your comments and questions to askawino@winomagazine.com.

If cork can contaminate a wine, then what’s stopping the wine industry from converting to screw caps?

You, the consumer. Many winos still believe that screw caps mean cheap, crappy wine. Maybe this was true back in the 1970s, but now there are lots of quality wines being sealed with screw caps. Some of my favorite Washington wineries (Chatter Creek, Syncline) are using both screw caps and Vino-Lok glass stoppers, which don’t have the perception problem of screw caps, and are recyclable like real cork. Plus, they look classy. So, perhaps the answer to the “cork vs. screw cap” question will be a glass stopper.

Why do servers typically hand me the cork when they open a bottle of wine for me? What am I supposed to do with it?

Actually, the condition of the cork can give you some clues about the wine, which you can confirm when you taste it. Check if the end of the cork is moist; if it’s dried out, then perhaps the wine wasn’t stored properly and it could be oxidized. Give the cork a quick sniff; if you notice that “moldy cardboard” smell, you may have a corked bottle. Then do what I do; give the cork to a friend who wants to channel Martha Stewart and make something with it (e.g. a trivet). That’s what I call recycling!

Cork lets a wine breathe, so if a wine needs to breathe in order to age properly, then why use screw caps? On the other hand, if any exposure to oxygen is bad for wine, then why use a cork?

First of all, most wines don’t need to age. The majority of whites and rosés fall into the “drink now” category. Nowadays, even a lot of reds are made “ready-to-drink.” So the wine closure question is really more about preserving the wine so that it tastes best when you open it. Despite what you may have heard, screw caps aren’t impermeable to oxygen. According to a research study conducted by Hogue Cellars, screw caps allow wine to breathe at a slower rate, but more consistently, than corks do, so there is less chance of oxidation (and no chance of “corked” wine).

Does wine need oxygen? Oxygen is bad for wine; it causes wine to oxidize over time, and lose its freshness and its fruitiness. (That’s why you reseal an open bottle of wine.) Corks can dry out if the wine isn’t stored properly, letting too much oxygen into the bottle. The oxidation process accelerates at higher temperatures. Now you know why wines are stored horizontally in cellars at about fifty-five degrees, with about 50-60% humidity.

On the other hand, oxygen can be good for wine, too. Have you ever tried a young Cabernet Sauvignon, and then decanted it and tasted it again? You probably noticed that the tannins became softer, making the wine easier to drink. This is an example of oxygen’s positive effect on wine.

Winemakers try to minimize wine’s exposure to air during the winemaking process to preserve the fruity aromas and flavors. They add antioxidants (e.g. sulphur dioxide) to wine as a preservative. This is especially important for whites, which tend to be more sensitive to oxidation. Which brings us to the next question….

Why are so few wines sulfite-free? I get a headache from red wine with sulfites, but sulfite-free wines I can drink easily.

Do you get headaches from white wines? Or dried apricots? Both of those have a higher content of sulfites than red wine. Since sulfites are a naturally occurring by-product of the fermentation process, there are no wines that are 100% sulfite-free. Organic wines have no added sulfites, but since sulfites act as a preservative, those wines tend to lose their freshness and spoil quickly.

But it’s not all in your head – Red Wine Headaches are a real problem, and scientists still are not entirely sure what causes them. The latest research seems to indicate that RWH are caused by “amines,” which are chemicals that occur naturally in aged, fermented, and pickled foods. So how do you figure out which wines have the most amines? Scientists at Berkeley have adapted technology used to find life on Mars (I kid you not) to test for amines, and there’s a startup company that is using this technology to develop a product for consumers to use. In the meantime, drink whichever red wines you can tolerate, or switch to beer, which is lower in amines than red wine.

Everyone seems to use a 100 point scale to rate wine these days. The problem is that there’s rarely a concrete explanation of why a wine is ranked as it is. How can I translate an arbitrary rating into something I can count on?

Let’s back up a minute; what is a wine rating? Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate all say pretty much the same thing: ratings reflect what the editors and “qualified tasters” think about a wine. Basically, ratings are an opinion, so they are subjective; and since everyone’s palate is unique, different reviewers will rate wines differently. Even the same reviewer could taste the same wine on different days, and rate it differently.

All of these publications also emphasize that ratings are just a quick summary; the accompanying commentary supposedly contains the important information, but often that doesn’t tell you much, either. So now what? First of all, drink what you like. The best way to figure out what you like is to taste different wines. Compare your opinions to the professionals; if you find an editor whose palate seems to agree with yours, then pay attention to that person’s tasting notes. How much difference is there between wines rated 89 or 90? I’ve found that the biggest difference is usually the price tag!