Wine: Why corks may or may not matter

To cork or not to cork?

Tristan BragagliaMurdock

Despite being the first step in opening a bottle of wine, the closure is often the last thing that we put any thought into .

Traditionally, cork has been the closure of choice as it provides a near-airtight seal that allows minute oxygen interplay, a necessity for wines that require long cellaring times, aiding the evolution of the wine’s fruit set anywhere from leathered to honeyed, softening tannins and rounding out acidities; think an aged Barolo or Mosel Riesling .

Natural cork is a cylindrically bored layer of the cork oak’s bark . These are considered best for long-term ageing compared to agglomerated corks, which use the trimmings and dusts leftover from the cork-cutting process, reconstituted with food-safe materials .

The downside of cork is, of course, corked wine . Cork taint’s chemical compound (trichloroanisole, or TCA) occurs when processing the wood with antimicrobial agents . At its best, cork taint will mute a wine’s bouquet, while at its worst, it will leave it smelling of musty basement and wet cardboard . Improvements in the industry’s production have lowered instances of TCA: depending on where you read it, 3 per cent to 8 per cent of all wines are corked — enough to allow guests at restaurants to taste the wine before they buy and occurring in high- and low-end wines indiscriminately .

Synthetic closure manufacturers push this narrative along, highlighting their ability to prevent TCA spoilage . While screw caps — Stelvins — offer a hermetic seal, their ability to store wines for any length of time is still hotly debated . Some winemakers bottle their still wines under crown cap, much like a beer or sparkling wine as they’re meant for more immediate enjoyment . Synthetic corks, too, are best for short-term storage as they can allow too much oxygen in too quickly .

Frank Cornelissen, a natural winemaker in Sicily, known for his volcanic terroir-driven wines, employs a highly engineered hybrid closure . Cornelissen finds that this bullet-shaped capsule gives a consistent result throughout vintages while still allowing a minute amount of air interplay and preventing cork taint; a seemingly goldilocks solution .

Beyond the practical applications, capsule types have a financial and environmental impact as well . Cork can only be harvested from quarter-century-old trees every nine years . Synthetic corks were traditionally plastic-based while a growing number of environmentally friendly alternatives are becoming available . Not only does a natural cork cost the most, it also looks the nicest . From a marketing standpoint, Stelvin enclosures still face the inaccurate assertion that it means that the wine is cheap .

In the 1970s, due to high market demands for Birkenstocks, along with established wine countries demanding the best cork, secondary wine regions were left with poor-quality corks, resulting in regularly corked and faulty wines . As such, it almost seems as though Australia passed a law that all closures on its wines should be Stelvins . Even today, more than 85 per cent of Australian wines are under Stelvin .

What was once a small economy based on supplying the local villages with barrels of wine has evolved throughout the years as globalization and wine has permeated cultures and national boundaries . Shipping supply routes have changed and lighter glass is used to offset carbon footprints . Liquor laws have been implemented that were previously unnecessary .

This past century has seen an explosion in advancements in chemical use and agricultural equipment, and yet the cork, a simple and effective closure, has yet to be topped .

When Tristan Bragaglia-Murdock isn’t talking wine and pulling corks at Fauna, chances are his nose is either in a glass or in a wine book .

Frank Cornelissen makes his natural wine in these hills of Sicily.