introduction

It's like a strategic invasion. Slowly but decisively, screw caps have infiltrated today’s wine market. A complete takeover situation appears all but inevitable in the territory of aromatic whites. But recently the plan of attack has taken on a different twist. New battle lines have been set and producers are beginning to circle in on red wines. Big changes are at hand, and while they may not quite threaten to take off explosively, hang on tight, because the sound of marching is getting very, very close.

This invasion has much in common with a secret mission. Red wines are beginning to appear under screw cap almost unannounced. Consumers are crying out for scientific evidence to support their use, and the answers they’re receiving are sketchy at best. Retailers are accused of being biased and misinformed. Even among winemakers, opinions differ markedly. Confusion reigns.

“We just don’t yet know how red wines will perform under screw cap,” is the standard response. This was certainly once the case, but the truth is that today we are much closer to understanding exactly how they perform. We know more – a lot more – than the average consumer, the average retailer and even the average winemaker is aware of. We are now well into the twilight of the days of “we’ll just wait and see”. We’ve waited more than thirty years. And we’ve seen more than many people are letting on. The time has come to open up the history books, peer into the laboratory logs and fossick through the depths of the cellars to finally unearth the case for screw caps on red wines. Then, perhaps, we just might be prepared for the invasion that looks set to characterise this very decade of wine history.