Originally Posted by
Jazzop
.... The questionable ability to cellar screwcap wines is probably the only non-sentimental reason why natural cork should still have a place. Otherwise, I wish all wines were screwcap-enclosed.
Wines age the same with screwcap as with cork -- and possibly better. There is over 40 years of research and experimentation to prove this claim. Among some of the oldest red wines under screwcaps is a 1966 Mercurey which, when tasted 38 years later, showed remarkable freshness and structure -- sadly I have not personally tasted such wines, but have tasted 15 year old screwcaps. Bottle aging is reductive and occurs in the absence of oxygen; though oxygen is useful for "burning off" some of the faults of wine. So cheap wine should be sealed with cork, and expensive wine should use screw caps
