It wasn’t until the 17th century that natural corks were finally adopted universally instead of glass wine stoppers. Up until that point, winemakers commonly used rags soaked in oil to make a layer on top of the wine to prevent oxidation.
In modern times, winemakers have several options in addition to the natural cork including synthetic versions and screw caps. However, with all the available options, which stopper is the best choice for your wine, the taste buds, and the environment? Read on to find out.
It wasn’t until the 17th century that natural corks were finally adopted universally instead of glass wine stoppers. Up until that point, winemakers commonly used rags soaked in oil to make a layer on top of the wine to prevent oxidation.
In modern times, winemakers have several options in addition to the natural cork including synthetic versions and screw caps. However, with all the available options, which stopper is the best choice for your wine, the taste buds, and the environment? Read on to find out.
Where Does Natural Cork Come From?
The traditional method to seal wine safely when bottling, natural cork is made from the bark of a tree called Quercus suber. It takes up to 25 years to mature and is generally found in Spain and Portugal.
After the maturation is complete, the bark of the tree is stripped and mixed with cork dust or glue to create natural, colmated, or multi-piece corks. The advantages of wines with these natural stoppers include:
- Aging: Given natural corks can help the wine breathe, it helps to age your wine without oxidation issues.
- Good for the environment: Because these are harvested sustainably from the bark of trees, the stopper doesn’t harm or destroy the tree.
- Recyclable: You can compost natural corks and in some places, you can recycle these stoppers at stores like Whole Foods.
What Are The Drawbacks of Natural Cork?
Did you know over 68% of all cork is harvested for wine stoppers? Whether you’re ordering wines sporting natural stoppers from the best wine club or the wine shop, understanding their shortcomings will help you safeguard wine.
- Porousness: Every cork is unique and some of these can ruin the wine by exposing the bottle’s contents to excess air.
- Corked wine: 10% of all wines taste tainted due to the ‘corked’ problem that happens when the natural cork is attacked by the fungus TCA or 2,4,6-trichloroanisole upon contact with chlorine.
- Durability: Wine corks are fragile and can crumble or fall into the wine if not professionally aged.
- Limited lifespan and harvest: Because bark from the trees can only be harvested once every 9 to 12 years, there is limited availability for natural corks.
How Did Synthetic Corks Arise?
Synthetic wine stoppers make up to 10% of all wine closures at present. They are manufactured from plant-based plastics, LDPE #4, or low-density polyethylene plastic. While they can not aerate the wine, there is more to synthetic stoppers than this attribute alone.
- Stays intact: Synthetic alternatives do not crumble and fall into the wine
- Recyclable: You can deposit synthetic stoppers at collection centers to recycle it.
- Zero contamination: Unlike natural bark, plastic is not affected by fungus.
Are Natural Or Synthetic Corks Better
Is cork a must-have for wine bottles? Some wine enthusiasts will not drink from wines with synthetic stoppers while others actively opt only for synthetic versions. Let us find out which is the better wine sealant among the two with the help of the following.
- Contaminants: While natural corks can taint the wine, synthetic alternatives prevent fungal infections.
- Effects on the environment: Unlike corks made from bark, synthetic stoppers are non-biodegradable but still recyclable.
- Appearance: Natural stoppers make the wine bottle look traditional and not cheap like synthetic stoppers.
- Oxidation and aging: Stoppers made from bark naturally aerates the wine, unlike synthetic closures.
- Durability and ease of use: There are chances that the bark variety can break and fall into the wine, but synthetic stoppers retain their shape for years to come.
Both synthetic and natural corks have their own merits and drawbacks, making it difficult to pick an absolute winner.
What About Screw Caps?
Did you know approximately 90% of wines available in the market do not need aging? This is one of the primary reasons why a natural cork has been rendered relatively obsolete. Screw caps are non-aerating metal or aluminum caps that attach to the mouth of the wine bottle. It is used to cap approximately 20% of the world’s table wines today whereas bark-based options have lost up to 40% of the wine closure market since the 1980s.
Here is how screw caps compare to natural and synthetic corks:
- The reusability of this type of cap makes it easy to store wine for later use.
- The sturdiness of screw caps prevents them from crumbling into the bottle.
- Taint due to fungus does not happen with metallic screw caps.
- Ease of using screw caps makes it convenient.
Bottom Line
Send a wine bottle with a screw cap when you are browsing wine club gifts online because it is easy to open, store, and helps avoid corked wine. However, when you are buying to age wine, natural cork is generally the best option.
On the other hand, synthetic corks keep the wine safe from taint, just like screw caps. Ultimately, the best eco-conscious wine stopper for durability is the screw cap.