Screwcap wine, any good?

My mother always kept a gallon jug of Gallo Chablis under the kitchen sink, and that is the first image that comes to mind when screwcap and wine are used in the same sentence.  So, when I heard Rob Russell of Westport Rivers Winery speak recently about his wine, and screwcaps, I was a bit skeptical.

Rob's family runs the small winery in Southern Massachusetts, and his passion for the winemaking process and enthusiasm about wine in general is contagious. He is a big proponent of the screwcaps, and wants to start using them. He said that they are the new wave of the future, because cork is so expensive, and difficult to source, and unreliable, that a certain percentage of wine is ruined, or 'corked', due to faulty corks.  I left that afternoon, quite impressed with Rob and the Westport River Wines, but completely dismissed the idea of screwcaps, didn't give them another thought, until last night.

I'd stopped at my favorite little wine shop on the Cape, The Wine List, which has a great selection of wines under $30, and many under $15.  I picked one, which turned out not to be memorable enough to share the name here. 

I brought it over to my friend Jen and Pete's and our other friend Steve joined us, and also brought a bottle of wine, a merlot that had a screwcap (yes, I can imagine your horror). We started with my wine, which was a blend of Sangiovese and Tempranillo. Once we finished that, we started on Steve's Cypress, which he had opened earlier. I was skeptical, very in fact, because of the screwcap, and the $8.99 pricetag.

But then I took a sip, and became a screwcap fan.  This is one of the best little inexpensive Merlots that I have ever had. It is a fun, lively, really fruity wine. Tons of berry on the nose and explosions of it in your mouth. It's good stuff.

So, curious, I looked up both Cypress wines and the screwcaps. That is when I discovered, or rather remembered from the earlier talk on them, that they are called Stelvin closures.  Cypress is also under the J. Lohr family of wines.

I  loved their description of the wine, especially the bit about 'blueberry pie'.

The 2003 Cypress Merlot is a deeply colored, youthful dark purple red with enticing fruit aromas of blueberry pie, black cherry, and violet. The flavors are plush, forward and full with considerable weightiness of fruit and structure. A very complex wine with bright fruit, the Cypress Merlot makes an ideal accompaniment to roasted or grilled lamb, beef and grilled portobella mushrooms.

And then, on the making of the wine,

At blending time, a good deal of “mucking around” with each wine brings the trio’s vision of each varietal to fruition - intense fruit aromas and flavors with bright and deep colors. Finally, the wines are sealed with the modern new Stelvin® closure to ensure that the bright fruit flavors and aromas of each varietal are preserved “untainted” in each and every bottle.

So, then I looked up the Stelvin Closures, that fancy name for a screwcap, and found this;

Stelvin Closures have been protecting premium beverages for over 30 years, but anxiety over ‘marketing issues’ have until now, resulted in very few premium quality wines appearing under this very effective closure.

The inert, food-grade polymer inside the capsule is guaranteed to have no effect on the taste or quality of the wine for the period it is sealed in…forever!

Many premium wineries around the world store there own precious ‘Library stock’ wines under these seals, in order to ensure that there is never any risk of oxidation or taint.

So, I am no longer a screwcap snob.

:) Pam

Comments

[Marley]

You're probably going to see a lot more screw tops in the future. We had a wine server in Miami a couple years ago tell us that a lot of wine makers -- particularly Australian vinters -- are going to the screw top and the plastic corks because 1) it's cheaper, 2) it's better for the environment than harvesting cork, and 3) it doesn't effect the flavor of the wine at all. We've actually had some good table wines (most Australian, I'll admit) that have been extra yummy. It'll be interesting to see if the trend catches on.

= )

[Edie]

Last night I had to pick cork out of my glass of Riesling, so screwtops will work for me.