Member-only story
Corks or Caps? Why You’ve Always Been Told That Corked Wine Is Better
Wine producers, big cork, and the truth about your wine
If you’ve ever dabbled in wine drinking or wine collecting, you likely have heard that corked wine is intrinsically better than screw cap wine. Oftentimes, screw cap wine is derided as cheap or poor quality. Real wine drinkers only tap cork bottles. But is that true?
The wine industry’s infatuation with cork comes from two primary sources: tradition and the cork industry itself. First, wine has traditionally been sealed with cork stoppers. For hundreds of years, cork has been used to keep wine sealed for freshness. From kegs and barrels to bottles, cork has a long history in the wine industry, and some habits are hard to break. Cork has been available for much longer than metal or plastic caps. Screw caps require machining, which is a relatively recent invention.
Second, the cork industry continues to fight every year to ensure that the wine industry retains a healthy demand for its products. Most of the world’s cork is produced in Portugal, where it is a $1.3 billion industry, and without wine, cork has precious few other options in the market. The cork industry has struggled to remain relevant as younger wine drinkers prefer screw caps for their ease of use. The industry has…
