Definition: screw cap - comments

The article also mentions the case of Domaine de la Romanée Conti, which is reportedly conducting similar experiments but whose management has declined to comment on the British newspaper's report. However, the newspaper quotes two Burgundy producers who explained to Le Figaro their choice of screw caps, and not just for their entry-level wines.
The first, Jean-Claude Boisset, is using this type of closure for a third of his production this year (200,000 bottles in total), including his Chambertin Grand Cru. Grégory Patriat, in charge of bottling at Boisset, says: "We started at the top of our range because we are convinced that screw caps are perfect for wines meant for ageing, as they protect the wine from oxidation better than corks."
For Renaud Laroche of the Laroche group, the choice of screw caps was a matter of common sense: "We had a lot of problems with corks in 2001. After that, we did a lot of tastings and decided on screw caps. Entire batches of bottles were defective. No car manufacturer would accept one in ten cars being defective!" The Laroche group now caps 60% of the 8.2 million bottles produced annually, including bottles of its Chablis Grand Cru Réserve de l'Obédiance (£79). According to Renaud Laroche, the increase in this proportion is likely to slow down: "Certain categories will continue to be sealed with corks. Screw caps are an excellent solution for white wines, but their advantage for red wines suitable for ageing remains to be proven."
The growth in screw caps is impressive, with 2.5 billion bottles sealed in this way in 2008 (out of 17 billion bottles produced worldwide), compared to only 300 million in 2003. According to market leader Alcan Packaging, 90% of New Zealand wines and 60% of Australian wines are now sealed with screw caps. Robert Parker has predicted that cork-sealed bottles will be in the minority by 2015.
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