Can you age wine bottled with a screwcap?
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Dear Dr. Vinny,
Can you age wine bottled with a screwcap?
—Rebecca, Austin, Texas
Dear Rebecca,
Absolutely! Screwcaps are a terrific way to close a bottle of wine. They eliminate the possibility of cork taint, oxidation and crumbly cork syndrome, and they make the wine easier to open (and reclose). No hate toward corks here—they have definitely improved over the years, and some people just adore this traditional closure. For me, I never purchase a bottle of wine (or not) based on how it’s sealed. I care more about what’s inside.
You can certainly age wines with screwcaps. I’ve done it for years, and I’ve also sat through many vertical tastings of wines bottled under screwcap. In general, wines under screwcap age more slowly than those bottled with cork. Their fresh, fruity notes stick around for longer, and there’s less bottle variation. Historically, a lot of wines bottled under screwcap were meant to be drunk young, but more and more producers are choosing to use screwcaps for ageworthy wines.
Of course, whether or not aging wine closed with a screwcap is a good idea depends on the wine and the person drinking the wine—as well as the screwcap in question. Winemakers can order different screwcaps to dial in the amount of oxygen ingress to mimic that of corks if they wish.
Some experiments (and anecdotal evidence) even suggest that screwcaps can actually allow more oxygen into the wine than corks, which generally allow extremely little air into the bottle, even over extended periods. But again, it depends on the exact screwcap in question, and a little more air isn’t necessarily a bad thing, depending on the wine and how long you’re hoping to age it. My advice is to experiment and find your screwcap sweet spot when it comes to cellaring your wines.
One final note. It’s not necessary to store a bottle of wine under screwcap on its side, but it’s not harmful either. Most bottles of wine are stored on their side to help keep the inside of the cork in contact with the wine, which prevents the cork from drying out. Feel free to put your screwcap wines in the same horizontal shelving if it’s more convenient, but don’t hesitate to keep them upright either.
—Dr. Vinny
