The wine you bought has a screw cap, not a cork. Did you get a bargain basement "plonk" instead of a decent bottle of wine?

Cork plays a vital part in the maturation of wines for long-term ageing, but for wines whose object is to be fresh and fruity and to be consumed within the first year or two of their release -- let's have screwcaps! Is the romance of having a cork in a bottle of wine worth a one-in-ten chance of getting a bottle that is tainted with TCA and smells like wet newspapers? (These wines are tainted and should be returned to the retailer or refused at a restaurant.)

Screwcap bottles keep the air out so the aromas and flavors stay "alive." Initially, it was just New World producers like Villa Maria, Fetzer, Bonny Doon, and Plumpjack that used screwcaps. Now, European producers of premium wines such as Michel Laroche in Chablis, Georges Duboeuf in Beaulolais and Paul Blank in Alsace are using screwcap closures for some of their line. Don't be alarmed, be delighted. Screwcaps mean the wine will always be vibrant and fruity, plus they are easy to open and reseal, which is no small bonus.

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