Which cork for which bottle of wine?
The quality of the cork of a bottle of wine is essential both for the storage of the container and for the preservation of the wine.
To age, wine needs oxygen but in a limited way.
The most well-known type of cork is cork.
This type of cap is flexible, biodegradable, it is an excellent thermal insulator!
Also, it is a plant tissue. Once recycled, cork can find a new use in design objects or insulating materials.
It is the most appreciated and used cork since today 70% of the wines in the world are still corked. By the way, did you know that the main producing country is Portugal?
This is THE most suitable cap for aging. The cork stopper can be of different lengths depending on the aging of the wine. In general, long corks will be preferred for wines for ageing wines.
Alongside it, there are three other types of plugs:
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The plastic cap:
It is an increasingly popular alternative to cork. Some use it for its colorful design but also to limit the risk of the famous cork taste…
Unfortunately, we cannot age a wine with a plastic cap because too much oxygen will go into the bottle so the wine will age too quickly and badly.
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The screw cap
Again, you can't age a wine that's in a bottled screw cap. It is totally hermetic, oxygen can not pass.
The opposite of oxidation is reduction and it smells like rotten egg, cabbage… Smells little appreciated.
If you have a screw cap bottle, no need to think, you are carafing to reverse the situation and allow the wine to air. However, if your wine, closed with a screw cap, has been stored for 5 or 6 years, it will be too late, the wine will not re-open.
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The glass cap
We see more and more glass caps appear. If you have not seen them yet, it will not be long in coming, especially with rosé wines. It is aesthetic, reusable but it does nothing to age the wine.
Let's end the article with a question: can a wine closed with a plastic cap be corked?
Well yes! because the molecule, trichloroanisol (TCA) that gives the taste of cork comes from wood and we can find this molecule in the cellar (barrels, frame, pallet …)
See you soon for new news! 😉
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