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By Manos Angelakis
Cork vs. Stelvin™
A definitive answer.
I think I have a definitive answer to the cork vs. Stelvin™ (screwcap) closure controversy (see The Oenophile Blog, Tales of the Cork). At a recent André Lurton tasting, we had two Sauvignon Blanc wines from the same Château, same 2006 vintage, bottled at the same time and having the same amount of cellar time, in the same cellar; they differed only in the fact that one was using a screwcap closure and the other a cork closure.
The differences were rather subtle, but very evident.
The Stelvin-closed wine felt young, fresh, fruity, and aromatic. It was a wine that begged to be drunk accompanying a grilled or poached side of salmon or perhaps a trout meuniere, a nice ripe cheese, or even some melon with proscutto wrapped around it.
The cork-closed wine was a little less aromatic but much more complex. This wine called for a skilled cook that could match the wine’s complexity to much more sophisticated fare.
Both wines were very good. The Stelvin closure had kept one bottle much younger than the cork-closed one that had allowed micro-oxidation to occur, therefore allowing the wine to become much more complex than it’s Stelvin-closed sibling. So, it all boils down to your taste, if you like young, fresh, aromatic wines then a Stelvin-closed bottle would be for you. On the other hand, if you like complex, sophisticated wines, then the cork closure would be right for you. The same goes for red bottles from other producers that we have recently tried.
So, both types of closure can have their place in the scheme of things. It should be up to you to select which bottle to purchase, with what type of closure.
À santé!
© July 2008 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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