Screw cap? So what?
You grab an interesting-looking bottle at the wine shop and realize that it has a metal screw cap. Do you even care? Did you use to feel that way?
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Me? I’m happy to see it. A screw cap guarantees that I won’t be disappointed by losing the wine lover’s lottery and finding a wine spoiled by cork taint, the funky, musty, damp cardboard stench of a fungus-infested natural cork.
The good news — as I wrote a couple of years ago in my column What? A real cork? — is that we hardly ever encounter untreated natural corks anymore, particularly in the $10 to $25 range where I most often explore.
“Quietly, so we hardly even noticed,” I observed, “whole corks have gradually given way to a range of options: Sturdy metal screw caps, synthetic corks made with either plant-based or petrochemical resins, and so-called “technical” corks like the popular Diam closure, made from natural cork that’s crushed and ground into tiny granules, treated with carbon dioxide to banish the cork-taint contaminants, and reassembled back into a natural but processed cork-shape stopper.”
Do you have trouble cracking the screw cap open? Try this simple trick: Hold the cap tightly, and twist the bottle. There’s science at work here: Torque depends on radius, so you get more force by turning the larger bottle than the smaller cap.
Still, it hasn’t been that long, at least on the geological time scale, since wine lovers were deeply skeptical of screw caps on wine bottles.
In a 2002 column, I wrote, “Of all the emerging alternatives to natural cork, the screw cap may be the most controversial and maligned, because it has long been associated with cheap, “rotgut” wines, a prejudice that the makers of the original Muppet Movie captured with great comedy in the memorable scene where the actor Steve Martin, playing a wine steward, dramatically unscrewed a bottle for Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog.”
Two comments on that article underscored the attitude: “screw caps will take 100 years to catch on,” and “Screwcaps are for rot-gut!” As it turned out, neither of those remarks aged well.
Even so, one concern remained, particularly among buyers and collectors of high-end wine meant to be cellared while maturing gently for years: Would those trophies age as effectively or well under a solid metal closure?
That argument remains controversial, reported New York-based wine writer Caitlin A. Miller in a November 2025 article for SevenFifty Daily, an online magazine about the business and culture of the beverage alcohol industry.
Many high-end producers, especially in the U.S., remain skeptical, Miller wrote, largely based on each closure’s ability to gently transmit oxygen to the wine. Too much, and the damage caused by oxidation is obvious; but too little, and the wine won’t evolve predictably, if at all.
Summarizing several scientific studies on aging wine under both closures, Miller concludes that proponents of screw caps see them as an investment in consistent quality, and the science generally supports this argument. “But wine is often as much about culture as it is about science,” she says. “For these traditionalists – including many U.S. consumers – natural cork is still paramount, thanks to its cultural and emotional weight as a symbol of prestige and long aging.”
Today’s featured wine, Vignobles Ferrandiere Pinot Noir from Pays d’Oc in Southwestern France, comes under a sturdy screw cap, and I’m glad it did. Fresh and delicious, it bore no traces of oxidation or cork taint. It’s no Burgundy, not at its $13 price tag, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s a pleasant, well-balanced, and interesting table wine, and that makes me happy.
What do you think? You pick up a bottle of wine, and it has a screw cap. Do you even care? Did you use to feel that way?
Today’s Tasting Report
Vignobles Ferrandiere 2024 Pays d’Oc Pinot Noir ($12.99)
Young, fresh, and appealing, Vignobles Ferrandiere Pays d’Oc Pinot Noir is a dark reddish-purple color with a bright garnet edge. A scent of cherry almost reminiscent of wild-cherry Life Savers shows at first, then gives way to pleasant cherry-berry and plum aromas and a whiff of brown spice. Red fruit carries over on the palate with fresh acidity and distinct tannins that linger in a long finish. 13.5% alcohol. U.S. importer: Alain Junguenet Selection, Westfield, N.J.
FOOD MATCH: The wine’s English-language back label, hinting at Pinot’s status as one of the most food-friendly red wines, suggests pairing this wine with lamb leg, duck, soft cheese, or a red-fruit tart. We enjoyed it with air-fried tofu steaks with sautéed mushrooms in a red-wine reduction.
WHEN TO DRINK: Its combination of forward fruit and tannic astringency suggests that this young 2024 vintage will keep in a good cellar for several years, but extended cellaring would require a gambler’s spirit. I’d drink it up this year or next.
VALUE:
It’s a fine value at my local mid-teens price and Wine-Searcher.com’s $14 average U.S. retail.
WEB LINK:
Here’s importer Alain Junguenet’s fact sheet on this Pinot Noir.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for Vignobles Ferrandiere Pays d’Oc Pinot Noir on Wine-Searcher.com.
Read about Southwestern France’s Pays d’Oc and its wines at this Wine-Searcher link.
Follow this Wine-Searcher link for an overview of the Bourgogne-rooted, internationally planted Pinot Noir grape.
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Good wines we’ve tried under $12!
Want tips to still more good, inexpensive wines? Here are Wine-Searcher links to vendors and prices for a bunch more wines for $12 or less that I’ve told you about in recent years. In some cases, the prices may have risen since I reviewed them, but they should still be excellent bargains. Please tell us about your favorites!
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