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Comment by ImprovedSilence | Hacker News Reader

Is there any reason the wine industry seems to stick to cork then, other than just being an old fashioned industry?

Sometimes you want the wine to be exposed to oxygen as it does; it changes the flavor of the wine, sometimes for the better. This is similar to decanting a wine; exposure to air changes it chemically.

Wine is often a social experience - so there is something too be said for the "fun" and flash of popping open a cork.

There's also significant market momentum to overcome as screw tops are often associated with cheap wine at the (typical) consumer level.

Yes, but this perception is rapidly changing, especially since there are plastic corks available (not screw tops). In Europe quality wines now often come with plastic corks.

The wine industry would be very, very happy to switch over to polymer corks or caps. They stick with cork because it's what the majority of buyers wants.

I find there is a ritual in bringing out the cork screw and opening the bottle. Think about how a waiter presents it in a restaurant. There's no anticipation or show in having them come out, showing you the bottle, then twisting the cap off.

In a similar note, we have a "rabbit" corkscrew. It's super efficient at opening a bottle, but is not particularly satisfying. Have you ever asked yourself, If only I could open this bottle faster? (Although it can be convenient if you're cooking with wine.)

There is a kind without the... screw, the spiral thing I mean. It's pointy and just slightly curved in S. I've been unable to find an image for it in five minutes.

I bet that, once you get used to it (after spoling a few hundreds of corks, that's it) it's faster than the "rabbit" model.

I say that because I used to be faster with the simple, T-shaped screw, and I've seen it used in restaurants by experienced waiters.

You forgot the part about the cork, which is presented to the purchaser for inspection (a quick sniff) to make sure the wine hasn't gone bad.

Yes, better wine preservation.

Australia and NZ wineries use screw tops almost exclusively even for high-end wines. In the US market buyers still believe that cork is better though so the wineries must accommodate that.

I don't know what your definition of high-end wine is, but I've never seen a screw top on anything I've drunk over $50.

I've seen it on several wines over $50 from New Zeeland and I've heard that most Australian wines in Australia now come with screw corks even at the higher end (natural cork is only used for exported wines). They seem to be leading the charge on that front. I've also seen it on a couple of French whites. But as others have mentioned, most vineyards are reluctant to do so (especially on wine for export), not because of any quality concerns, but because many people think screw caps make wines look cheap.

This is correct - it's very rare to find a corked bottle in Australia, even over the $50 price point

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