Another Chapter in the Screwcap vs. Cork Saga

Posted August 3rd, 2009 05:08 by John Szabo

Attitudes towards screwcaps have changed, but we knew that. Here’s some more evidence, this time from a local source. Peter Blakeman, a professor of hospitality and tourism at the Niagara Culinary Institute, delivered a paper on July 8 at the Bacchus Goes Green conference in Dijon, Burgundy, organized by Brock University, the University of Burgundy, the Burgundy School of Business and UNESCO. Blakeman, representing Niagara College for the first time under the newly formed Niagara College Food and Wine Sciences division into applied research, was there to outline the results of an attitudinal survey regarding “consumer attitudes towards screw cap versus cork closures for premium wines” for the conference focused on “green” and technical changes in the wine industry.

Blakeman conducted a survey and a blind tasting for 254 random people at Henry of Pelham winery using their 2003 Riesling and 2003 Pinot Noir. Both wines had been closed with both cork and screwcap as part of an internal trial at the winery to evaluate closure performance. According to Blakeman, “The results clearly showed that consumer attitudes are changing away from the notion that screw caps were only suitable for cheap inferior wines and that there was only a very slight consumer attitudinal bias towards cork closures.”

That was the survey part. As for the blind tasting, and remember this is based on the feedback of random consumers with no specialized wine training, the results were also interesting: “taste preference was evenly distributed with a slight bias in most all categories for the taste of the screw cap wine, determining there was no perceived difference and that screw cap closures were performing well.” Translation: most consumers preferred the taste of wines under screwcap, without knowing from which bottle the wine had been poured.

At the conference in Burgundy, Blakeman re-created the tasting for the attendees, ranging from wine educators to producers such as Claude Depuis from Aloxe Corton, a producer of both white and red Grand Cru Burgundy in Burgundy. “It was a little intimidating pouring Canadian chardonnay in the sanctity of Burgundy”, said Blakeman. “I was amazed and pleased [Dupuis] had heard of Henry of Pelham winery and that he quite enjoyed Canadian wine.”

The now 6-year-old sample would offer a good test of aging potential, not only of scewcaps and cork closures, but also Canadian wine. The results were conclusive: “the screw cap had kept the wine fresh and preserved the acidity; the cork-closed wine was completely different. It was buttery “flabby” or “fat” you could say, more vanillic and slightly oxidized. It almost seemed the cork-closed wine was opened two days prior.”

In the end, 65% of the 34 participants preferred the screw cap closed wine, 17% preferred the cork closed wine, 9% liked both and 9% liked neither.

So, not exactly groundbreaking news. It’s simply more evidence that consumer are more and more accepting of screwcaps on their favorite wines, and that screwcaps do perform well over time, preserving freshness and fruit flavours more consistently and reliably than cork.

For more information, contact Peter Blakeman at pblakeman@niagarac.on.ca

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