Wineries, no matter how long they are already existing, are always trying to improve themselves  . Obviously today this is much easier than for example 50 years ago thanks to the evolution of technology and science. What we notice today is that there are many vineyards testing on replacing the classic cork by a screw cap as closure of their bottles. The biggest problem in this change is not the producers who don’t want to make the change (as the screw cap will give less bottles that are corked or that are gone bad), but rather the miss-interpretation of the consumers who have a wrong idea of the screw cap.

Many people think that wines that have a screw cap are of inferior quality to the wines that have the traditional cork or that wines with a screw caps are the low budget ‘chateau migraine’ wines 🙂  Well nothing of the above is true.  In fact a good quality screw cap will preserve the wine better than the classic cork and let less air get in touch with the wine (or get in the bottle when closed)?  Did you know that in New Zealand they don’t use regular corks anymore, but only screw caps?

A few weeks ago the winery of Franz Haas invited some sommeliers to show and experience themselves the effect the 2 types of bottle caps have on the aging of wine. Basically we were served the same wine (aged in the same conditions), but one bottle with classic cork and the other bottle with a screw cap and this this from several vintages and both white and red wines . During this tasting we did the comparison from the Franz Haas Manna (2016,2011, 2010)  and their Pinot Nero (2011, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2006)

FYI I don’t have any shares of any screw cap or cork company 🙂 So I’m just saying how I (and I think I can speak for everybody at the table that night) experienced this.

Even before this tasting I didn’t have anything against screw caps as I already had many wines that had a screw cap that I liked very much… the tasting only made me like them more (not that I won’t drink bottle with corks anymore 😉 ). It was particularly interesting to be able to put the both wines next to each other and the difference  has been significant in many cases. What I noticed was that the wines that had the screw cap were much ‘fresher’ and ‘alive’ than the ones with the classic cork. Not that I’m saying the ‘classic cork’ ones weren’t nice, because they were…but my preference went to the ones with screw cap (with my personal favorite the 2008 Pinot Nero 🙂 ) and you could definitely notice the difference. True for some vintages the difference was smaller, but it was there.

The only message I can give is, please don’t let your pre-judgment stop you from buying a bottle of wine (or even ordering it at a restaurant) just because it has a screw cap as the only thing a producer want to achieve with this is getting the wine in the best conditions to you and how he made the wine (so with as few changes as possible)!!

Another beauty we had at the end of the evening was the Moscato Rosa!!

In case you have questions regarding the Franz Haas wines you for Belgium you can contact Vinivins for people outside of Belgium please contact Franz Haas directly.

Cheers!

P.S.: Thanks Danny for letting us have this tasting at Silo’s!!