To answer this question, let’s start with “what’s up with corks?” Corks have been the industry standard for hundreds of years. By letting a small amount of oxygen into the bottle, the wine is allowed to slowly bottle age.
The main dis-advantage of corks is a tricky chemical called TCA. If you’ve never had a “corked” wine, all you’ve missed out on is a glass of vino that smells like your grandparent’s basement on a hot day. With a screw cap, unless a winery REALLY messes up, there is virtually no chance of TCA infection.
So why isn’t everyone using them? Hundreds of years of making wine with corks has lead to a predictability as to how the wine ages. Since screw caps are relatively new on the scene, winemakers are still learning how a screw cap will affect the aging process.
As a consumer, your best bet is to buy “drink me today” wines in screw capped bottles. The prime example is a crisp, aromatic, new world style Sauvignon Blanc, for which a screwcap is arguably superior in locking in the aromas.
