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Les Tourelles de Longueville 2004: Cork or Screwcap?

There are many facets to wine that stimulate fierce debate; machine versus manual harvesting, the en primeur system, the US distribution system, points, the influence of critics and so on. But I suppose that few such debates have spawned as many column inches as the matter of closures; today bottles may be sealed using natural cork, synthetic closure, or alternatively screwcaps such as Stelvin®, or even the glass Vino-Lok® system. Nevertheless, although of great merit, this is not a debate on which I have ever made any significant comment. Strongly biased opinions abound, but I myself have long remained in a state of equipoise. Although I acknowledge the potential success of the screwcap (which is certainly the dominant alternative to cork), faced with the uncertainty of how wine ages under screwcap, versus the corky evils of inconsistency and taint, both of which have to be be considered in the context of many centuries of use and our familiarity with the system, I have never been convinced that one method of closure has a clear advantage over the other.

It is unlikely that there will be one giant randomised controlled trial to establish without doubt the efficacy of one method of closure over another, although there is certainly research ongoing, most notably at the Australian Wine Research Institute. So we must look to other sources of data, and in 2007 a press release alerted us all to one potential source of valuable information. The UK merchant Bibendum announced that a proportion of the bottles of Les Tourelles de Longueville, the second wine of Chateau Pichon-Baron, would be bottled under Stelvin® screwcap. Others would be bottled under cork, with the former being distributed to the on-trade (restaurants, wine bars and the like) whereas the traditional cork would be found in those bottles distributed to Bibendum's private customers, in other words you and me. This new move would commence with the 2004 vintage.

Any controversy that surrounds this move stems from concern about the potential effect that the new closure will have on the ageing of the wine. Although the primary purpose of cork is to provide a long-lasting seal, it has a permeability to oxygen that facilitates an important although slow transgression of this gas through to the wine beneath. First consideration of the alternative screwcap would suggest that there is no such oxygen transmission, although this assumption would be incorrect. The application of different lining materials to the inside of the metal cap has a profound effect on the oxygen permeability of the closure. One such lining material is polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), a carbon-based polymer which - depending on the base monomers and the size of the resulting polymers - can be manufactured with differing oxygen permeability. When layered with polyethylene the end result is the Saranex® liner, although for even lower permeability a layer of tin may also be employed. The decision at Pichon-Baron has been to opt for a Stelvin cap with a Saranex® liner.

As I alluded above, this is no giant trial destined to answer the closure debate forever, but the temptation to compare the two bottling methods, for those with access to bottles bearing both cork and screwcaps, is irresistible. In April 2008, barely one year after the decision had been announced, I had my first (and hopefully not the last) opportunity to taste the wine from under both screwcap and cork when I visited Pichon-Baron during the primeur tastings. It was a fascinating chance to make some observations and produce my own admittedly anecdotal evidence as to the effect on the wine. So what where my observations?

The two wines were tasted blind (I knew the identity of the wine, but not which was from under cork or screwcap), and there were striking differences between them. The first had a fresh colour, remaining firmly in the red spectrum and the nose had the tiniest hint of reduction. But the wine itself, on the palate, was pretty good; this was the wine from the bottle bearing a screwcap. The wine from under cork bore a hugely different colour which would have had me thinking it to be a much older wine, had I not had the prior knowledge that these were both of the 2004 vintage. The aromas on the nose were very similar, but the wine seemed more advanced on the palate. This was a very different experience. Nevertheless, it was impossible to walk away from the tasting saying that one had been certainly 'better' than the other. If you were looking for a wine to cellar, or indeed if you had a number of bottles in storage, the first wine - from under screwcap - would have inspired greater confidence. Having said that, however, there was a hint of reduction on the nose here, a commonly described problem with wines under screwcap. But those looking for a wine to drink now may well have found the second wine more to their taste. This is an informative conclusion, suggesting that in this particular incidence the screwcap outperformed the cork in what might - perhaps for want of a better expression - be termed 'cellar-freshness'. When we consider that the ability to cellar wines is one frequently touted reason for avoiding screwcaps, this seems like a surprising conclusion. We should remember, however, that the concerns centre around how a screwcap would perform over many years and indeed many decades, whereas this tasting looked at wines with just a few years in bottle. So it will be vital that we see how these two wines progress over the coming years, and so I hope an opportunity to do so will arise again sometime. (24/9/08)

Les Tourelles de Longueville 2004 - Tasting Notes

Tasted in April 2008. Click to locate stockists.

Les Tourelles de Longueville (Pauillac) 2004: The second wine of Pichon-Baron. From one of the 12000 bottles under screwcap. Of the two wines, one under screwcap and one under cork (both tasted blind) this has the fresher colour. A smoky and gamey nose, with a touch of iodine. Perhaps a touch reduced? Rounded, sweet, firm, with gentle fruit and good tannin. Not very vigorous. Good though. The bright colour and note of reduction suggests screwcap to me. 15.5+/20

Les Tourelles de Longueville (Pauillac) 2004: The second wine of Pichon-Baron. This wine, also tasted blind, turned out to be bottled under cork. It has a remarkably different colour considering these have only been in bottle a year or two. Although the colour is more advanced, it still has a smoky and gamey character on the nose, and is clearly in the same vein as the preceding wine, although it is perhaps less expressive. It seems a little more fleshy, a touch sweeter. It has clearly evolved differently, and is attractive. Ready for drinking very soon. 15.5/20