How To Distinguish The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Cork

Natural cork stoppers have been around for thousands of years, but a fatal flaw has always existed – it gives wine a bad stopper. The bad stopper doesn't smell fresh, like rain-soaked newspaper or cardboard, and the source of this substance is the disinfectant inside the oak stopper and a reactant of mold that has not been completely removed, called TCA (chloroanisole), which causes the wine to taste flat, and the putrefactive taste eats up the fruity and floral aromas. The Portuguese Stopper Association, through a summary of a 2,800-bottle blind tasting of wine organized by Wine Spectator in Napa, California, in 2005, reported that the use of cork corks caused a spoilage rate of 0.7% to 1.2% in wine, and some even said that there was a risk of up to 5% to 10%.

Synthetic stoppers, a rubber product that are a common alternative to traditional cork stoppers due to their shape and function. However, because it can only maintain the antioxidant time of the wine for a short time (about 18 months), it needs to be drunk as soon as possible after bottling; Although TCA interference is avoided, it sometimes leaves some chemical rubber flavor on the wine, so the impression on users and drinkers is mediocre.
Screw stoppers can achieve a good bottle mouth sealing effect, greatly eliminating the concerns of manufacturers and buyers about "wood stopper smell" and oxidation hidden dangers. The famous Hogg Cellars once did a 30-month research experiment comparing the use of natural oak stoppers, synthetic stoppers and Steven screw stoppers, and found that screw stoppers have complete advantages over the first two, although it makes consumers lose the romantic scene of opening the bottle, but in comparison, it seems to be far less than maintaining the quality of the wine, and after opening the bottle, it should be more attractive to find the potential for the wine in the glass to continue to evolve, the long aroma and the refreshing and pleasant quality.

The glass stopper, which is made of a combination of glass and a rubber ring on the inside, while avoiding oxidation of the wine and contamination by TCA. The product was introduced to Europe in 2003 and has been used by more than 300 wineries. But there were two main reasons for its popularity: high cost and completely hand-sealed bottles – they cost 70 cents each, and the corresponding filling equipment was not widely available worldwide.

Crown caps are often used to seal sparkling wines. At first, the cap was only used for sealing during fermentation and was often replaced with a wooden stopper before transport. However, some manufacturers directly use crown bottle caps for sale, although it is very easy to open, but greatly reduces the atmosphere and mystery of using champagne for parties.