To the layman it is known as being “corked” and, with the problem of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole affecting about 4 per cent of bottles, there is a sound argument for wines to be closed with a screwcap.

Indeed, if you relish the aromatic and pungent note of a New Zealand sauvignon blanc, for example, those up-front aromas and flavours will last longer in a bottle closed with a screwcap. This is because air trapped in the bottle is unable to escape, delaying the wine’s evolution — good for early and easy-drinking white and reds as it can extend their life. However, for red wines that require at least a couple of years’ cellaring to develop complexity, screwcaps are not the closures to use. The slower evolution means that the wine will have to stay longer in the cellar to gather similar complexity to one closed with a cork. And, because all wine has sulphur in it, bottles with a screwcap are more prone to developing smelly sulphide problems.

The problem affects a small percentage of bottles, but with more than a hundred million screwcap wines on our shelves, that’s still a big stink.

Martin Isark is a wine writer

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