Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/744999
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m N o v - D e c 2 016 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 6 5 to screw caps. It ranked second in my decision. Job one was to figure out how to eliminate the problem with corked wines. Once I made a list of options to switch to, price then was the deciding factor in going to screw caps." DeCosta says, "Quality is our primary criteria for closures. We select the highest quality closure available within the cost structure of our wines. Cost control is neces- sary to keep our prices manageable on the shelf while still maintaining margins, but ultimately we won't compromise quality." McPherson says, "Not so much the price, but the Bios are about half the cost of the natural corks we use. I run two-inch, super-high- grade corks in our Carter Estate wines, which sell for $50 and more per bottle. People expect a nice cork on a $50 bottle of wine, so we deliver. But buying more expensive corks doesn't mean you won't have any cork taint. TCA is very pervasive and only synthet- ics or screw caps can guarantee no TCA. We don't use screw caps mainly because the owner sees them as cheap. The reality is still there for many wine consumers who remember Boone's Farm and TJ Swann." Martini adds, "Thirteen cents for a screw cap versus 30 cents for a cork, plus five cents for the capsule." CONSIDERING CHANGE DeCosta says, "Unless the clo- sure quality decreases or there are availability issues from the sup- plier or manufacturer, we don't see many reasons to change the closure we use. We've started experimenting with new screw caps that allow controlled oxygen ingress to the bottle for more con- sistent aging, as well as closures that use new materials like sugar cane polymers instead of cork from trees." Webster says, "So far, we've seen zero issues with corked bot- tles from switching to our new cork and no issues with our new screw caps as well. So quality of the product is first priority. Also, it's been a great decision to switch to a company that has all three items in one place [screw caps, corks and closures] instead of ordering from three different companies. The cus- tomer service has been on point so far as well." M c P h e r s o n a d d s , " We j u s t switched to the Select Bios this year, but they were just released last year as a new product and we tried them out right away. Anything that is going to improve quality is considered. We thought they per- formed well on the line and, thus far, any wines bottled with them are holding up very well." Jeff Siegel, the Wine Curmudgeon, is a nationally known wine writer whose blog is one of the top 100 wine sites in the world. He writes about wine for a variety of trade and consumer publications. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. Todd Webster, winemaker at Brennan Vineyards, says he's moved to mostly screw caps to eliminate the problem with corked wines