dont wine bottles use corks anymore?

[mjr]

Overall a screw (or even better a crown) cap is the better choice. Wine never spoils when kept under a screw or crown cap.

Utter nonsense. It does. Drink more wine and you'll find one with sulphur taint.

[Bonefishblues]

OK, thanks for the feedback and the unique style of delivery

How about "wine stored under screw or crown cap have a very significantly reduced propensity..." as an alternative form of words.

Would we find agreement there?

I can't recall a screw cap wine having had a problem in my drinking career, but as stated, perhaps I simply don't drink enough?

[mjr]

How about "wine stored under screw or crown cap have a very significantly reduced propensity..." as an alternative form of words.

Would we find agreement there?

Depends what it's significantly reduced compared to! Over 2% of screw-capped bottles are reportedly tainted, compared to about 1% of cork-sealed bottles.

I can't recall a screw cap wine having had a problem in my drinking career, but as stated, perhaps I simply don't drink enough?

It would be understandable. Have you had more than five tainted wines? Something like 80% of wine used corks a few years ago and the remaining 20% included plastic corks and various unusual closures like Zorks as well as screw caps.

[Bonefishblues]

Where are those stats from - I find that really high for the screw cap, I must admit

[mjr]

Where are those stats from - I find that really high for the screw cap, I must admit

The screw cap rate is from memory from years ago. Sites like http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6267079.stm mention it... but that claims 5% cork taint which contradicts the 1% stated on http://www.apcor.pt/en/fight-against-tca/

Now that you ask, I wonder could those of you making wild claims for the environmental and taste benefits of wine bottle tops made from highly reactive metals with plastic inserts show some evidence, please?

[PH]

It's too much trouble to fit a cork to a box

[Ray]

Completely out of my depth here, I must admit. Actually, I drink very little wine, so might not be able to distinguish between good wine and the tainted variety. And if I were to drink more in an attempt to get better at it, wouldn't I risk being even less able . . . ?

Curiously, I've just bought an espresso coffee machine, and am experiencing similar feelings of inadequacy. The machine itself got good reviews ('Which' and elsewhere), so I'm reasonably confident that the hardware is OK. Being of a slightly geeky bent, I started to read around to brush up my coffee-making technique. Oh dear, rather than finding commonly accepted advice to enable me to make coffee 'properly', it's obviously not that simple. There's even a 'Coffee Geek' website. I really can't be a'd. I'll just browse the coffee shelves in the supermarket (no, no, don't tell me that's my first mistake!) and refine my own methods until I come up with something that suits my taste.

Sometimes life seems just too complicated

[Bonefishblues]

Where are those stats from - I find that really high for the screw cap, I must admit

The screw cap rate is from memory from years ago. Sites like http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6267079.stm mention it... but that claims 5% cork taint which contradicts the 1% stated on http://www.apcor.pt/en/fight-against-tca/

Now that you ask, I wonder could those of you making wild claims for the environmental and taste benefits of wine bottle tops made from highly reactive metals with plastic inserts show some evidence, please?

We can probably trawl stats culled from t'interweb all night TBH, but summarised you say there's less tendency for spoilage in a cork-sealed bottle vs a screw or crown-capped bottle and I'm taking the opposite view.

[Bonefishblues]

Completely out of my depth here, I must admit. Actually, I drink very little wine, so might not be able to distinguish between good wine and the tainted variety. And if I were to drink more in an attempt to get better at it, wouldn't I risk being even less able . . . ?

Curiously, I've just bought an espresso coffee machine, and am experiencing similar feelings of inadequacy. The machine itself got good reviews ('Which' and elsewhere), so I'm reasonably confident that the hardware is OK. Being of a slightly geeky bent, I started to read around to brush up my coffee-making technique. Oh dear, rather than finding commonly accepted advice to enable me to make coffee 'properly', it's obviously not that simple. There's even a 'Coffee Geek' website. I really can't be a'd. I'll just browse the coffee shelves in the supermarket (no, no, don't tell me that's my first mistake!) and refine my own methods until I come up with something that suits my taste.

Sometimes life seems just too complicated

I went bean-to-cup and haven't regretted it. I know it's perhaps not that gnat's nadger as good, but it's sure as heck less faff and more consistent in my hands at least. Can I recommend Happy Donkey as a bean supplier - way better than the (very modest) price tag would suggest

[661-Pete]

I use the corkscrew attachment on my Swiss Army knife, whenever a cork needs to be drawn. Absolutely the best corkscrew in the business - no argument! And it gives me a bit of exercise...

Yes cheapo plonk often comes with screw tops. We use that sort of wine for cooking, and it's an advantage to be able to re-seal the half-empty bottle (ok you can push the cork half-way in, but that often makes the bottle too tall for the cupboard). And almost-as-cheapo stuff comes with those plastic 'corks' which I detest. But sometimes you have no choice.

[Ray]

I'll just browse the coffee shelves in the supermarket (no, no, don't tell me that's my first mistake!)

Can I recommend Happy Donkey as a bean supplier

I just knew it! But thanks anyway for the suggestion

Now I'm going to stand back and leave this thread to the wine buffs.

[Phil_Chadwick]

Cork causing flavour problems is an issue with rosé wines. We drink a lot of rosé and it was affecting perhaps one in 3 or 4 at one time. I've only ever experienced it once or twice with red and I can't ever remember it with white.

I do like a cork, having said that.

[mercalia]

We went to a cheese and wine do at the Queen's Head last week.
£8 a head - 25 of us I think.

The St Austell Brewery wine expert came with a dozen different wines - white, rose, and red - plus a port.
The pub provided the selection of cheeses to go with each wine.

We all had a brilliant time, and the wine buff was excellent and knowledgeable, a did a presentation of each wine. We all had a small glass of each. He got us to smell the wine, take a sip, then taste the cheese.
Superb!

Any road up, back to the OP.

The wine buff was asked about cork vs screw-top, and he said something about the better quality wines need the cork because .................................. trouble is, I can't remember what the reason was.
Maybe it was towards the end of the evening.

Any road up, he maintained that cork was better (for some reason that I can't remember) for the quality wines, though screw-top and plastic corks were ok for the common or garden supermarket stuff.

sounds to me that the small glasses of wine were not that small?