There was a time when screw cap closures signalled that the contents of a wine bottle were of questionable quality, but that is no longer the case. With modern advances in the technology, and in the wine consumer�s attitude, a screw cap means, among other positive things, getting a bottle open more quickly. What could be wrong with that?You may have heard the word �Stelvin� used to describe a screw cap, however this is not a generic term, it is a registered trademark. What has happened is that the trade name has been appropriated to cover the whole category, much like Kleenex� has come to refer to facial tissue. Stelvin� closures, along with other brands of screw caps, have evolved to the point where they can look just as good, and sometimes better, than the traditional foil covering used to protect cork-sealed bottles. Since no foil has to be removed, the branding message at the neck of the bottle remains intact, and the marketing of wine has become just as important as its production.Aside from ease of access, one of the main benefits of screw caps is that a wine will not be spoiled by cork taint, which robs the wine of flavour, and makes it smell like wet cardboard. Some estimates suggest cork taint affects 1 in 12 bottles. Doing the math, that could mean thousands of bottles each vintage. That is not just wasted liquid; that is lost profit. In a challenging marketplace, each bottle of wine has real value to a producer, so anything that can keep more bottles available for sale is welcome. This is also where the simplicity of opening comes in. With interest in wine showing no signs of slowing down, and with more novice wine drinkers looking to try a touch of fermented grape, allowing them to get into their chosen bottle without requiring a degree in mechanical engineering will encourage them to try more, and more often. Even at the higher end of the market, producers are putting premium bottlings under screw caps.With the increasing availability of wines with screw caps, there have been comparative tastings of identical wines, bottled under cork and screw cap, to determine if there is any difference in the taste of the wine, and for the most part, tasters have found that wines under screw cap taste fresher. There is plenty to choose from, so if you have not yet tried this new �twist� on wine, you have only to look anywhere in your nearest wine retailer.
