I read an interesting article in the Daily Telegraph, which also appeared on Vino24. Here’s the HYPERLINK     It’s about top french wine makers who are giving up the old cork for the new screw caps.

We, too, are also looking seriously at the evolution of screw-tops for our high-end wines, by which I mean those that can be aged for at least 20 or 30 years. Indeed, one of the greatest qualities of our San Leonardo is its incredible longevity, and to safeguard it we are always on the lookout for the very best corks. We’ve been discussing the cork problem for quite some time with some of our most authoritative French and Italian colleagues, and we are always keen to hear what producers who have taken the giant leap to screw-tops have to say.

Personally, I think that screw-tops are great as stoppers for mid-range wines that have not been created with long-term ageing in mind, and also for all ready-to-drink wines. But would we really want to open a great bottle without the ritual of uncorking it and waiting with baited breath to see how it has aged…?

Perhaps we’re being a bit too romantic, but doesn’t poetry have a part to play in the making and drinking of wine? And then, of course, there’s the fact that our dog, Barrique, likes nothing better than chewing on a good old cork!