In this episode of The Best 5 Minute Wine Podcast, we dive into a listener's inquiry about the age-old debate of corked versus capped wines. Mark from Jersey is curious if opting for screw cap wines is a sign of being cheap or if corks are truly superior. Our host, along with the guest Sour Grapes, offers insightful perspectives that reveal the misconceptions surrounding wine closures.
Listeners will learn that the choice between cork and screw cap is not necessarily about quality but rather the winery's decision-making process. We discuss the potential risks of cork taint due to TCA contamination and why screw caps can sometimes be the more sophisticated option for casual wine drinkers. Tune in for a fun and informative discussion that will help you feel confident in your wine choices, no matter the closure method!
00:00
Welcome. Welcome to the best
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five minute wine podcast with
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time to time. We get questions
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from you. Let's go ahead and
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bring sour grapes in and answer
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one of your questions. All
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right. Well, somebody answer that
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phone. Hey, listen, this is Mark
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or Chief Tate. I'm calling out of
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Jersey. I don't really know how
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this works, but I've seen your
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number. I've been listening to
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your podcast for a little bit.
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I think maybe you guys might know
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the answer to this question
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because me and my lady, we've
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been getting into wine a little
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bit recently. And I had read
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something that corks are just as
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good as caps or vice versa. But
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every time I bring home capped
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wine, she's like, I'm being
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cheap. So I guess my question is
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just be is corked wine better
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than caps? Anyway, this is
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Cheap Drunk Out of Jersey.
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Looking forward to your answer.
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Cheap Drunk Out of Jersey. I
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love this guy already. Mark,
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first of all, welcome to the
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wine world, man. You and your
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lady are just getting into it.
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That is fantastic. And second of
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all, she is giving you a hard
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time, but honestly, she's not
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entirely wrong to have the
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instinct, even if the instinct
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is based on a myth. The short
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answer, Mark, is no, not
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inherently. A screw cap does not
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mean the wine is cheap. It means
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the winery made a different
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choice about how to seal the
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bottle. The reason cork became
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the tradition is history, not
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science. Cork was what was
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available. It works great, but
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it comes with a risk. You ever
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open a bottle and it smells like
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wet cardboard, like a musty
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basement? Cork taint is the
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reason. It's caused by a
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compound called TCA,
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trichloroanisole, and it comes
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from a contaminated cork. It can
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ruin an entire bottle of wine,
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and that happens to somewhere
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between one and three percent of
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all cork seal bottles. That's
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not nothing. So in some ways,
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Mark, you bringing home screw
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caps is actually the more
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sophisticated move. Yes, Mark
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needs ammunition here, but,
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Mark, you said you and your lady
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are getting into wine. Are you
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buying bottles to age for 20
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years? Probably not. You're
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buying bottles to drink on a
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Tuesday night in Jersey. And
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for that, screw cap is totally
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fine, maybe even better. No
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risk of cork taint, opens easy,
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reseals perfectly. I brought
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home the future. Mark, write
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that down. You're not cheap.
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You're informed. Big
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difference. Cheers, cheap
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drunken Jersey better known as
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Mark. Cheers to you and your
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lady. Until next time, drink
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what you love. Don't let anyone
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make you feel bad about it, and
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we'll see you in the glass.
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Before you go, Mark, how about
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a New Jersey joke? How do you
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know someone's from Jersey?
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Don't worry. They'll tell you,
03:07
and then they'll argue with you
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