Baltimore Eats - WINE TALK - All screwed up?

We just received three wines from the 2005 vintage from the Domaine Des Baumard winery in the Loire Valley, France. This winery produces some of the world's finest dessert wines from the chenin-blanc grape. These three wines, the Coteaux du Layon Carte D'or ($21.99 750ml), Coteaux du Layon Cuvée Le Paon ($39.99 750ml) and Quarts de Chaume ($36.99 375ml) all came with the Stelvin screw cap closure.

The wines were rated 92, 95 and 98 points respectively by the Wine Spectator. Accompanying each case was an explanation with the bold title: "Why screw caps instead of corks? Life is full of compromises. This is not one of them."

To illustrate the point here, let me share a little story: For my 50th birthday, my wine tasting group allowed me to pick the theme. I chose the top 12 wines of the famed 1982 vintage in Bordeaux.

To attend the tasting one needed to supply one of the wines. The wine I brought was Chateau Margaux, the ethereal and elegant first growth. The setting was one of Baltimore's best restaurants with a killer pre-set menu. My Chateau Margaux, along with another wine that a guest had provided, the Cos D'estournel, a second growth, were both corked! Now, I had stored my wine perfectly since its release, only to be devastated on my birthday.

A 'Corked' wine has been, in most cases, bottled with a cork that is contaminated with TCA (2, 4, 6- Trichloroanisole). TCA can also come from wine-making equipment or even the winery walls. It does not pose a health risk but the contaminated wine smells like moldy newspaper or a damp basement. The wine industry estimates 3% to 7% of all cork-finished wines have TCA contamination.

We've been told that it's necessary to have a cork stopper to allow tiny amounts of oxygen into the bottle to age the wine. But 25 years of observations by Domaine des Baumard, and many other experts as well, have proven that the wines' evolution occurs without oxygen.

Besides the Stelvin closure, there are two other very cool closures. One is the "Vino-Seal" -a glass stopper with an inert o-ring, and the second is the "Zork." This amazing closure uses recyclable polymers molded into a stopper shape. It is filled with air so when pulled from the bottle it gives that satisfying "popping" sensation. All of these closures are easy open, easy reseal, neutral and hermetic. They prevent TCA and oxidation, and best of all -no corkscrew necessary. You don't even have to worry about storing the bottle on its side to keep the cork from drying out!

Synthetic corks are the most popular closure besides traditional corks. They do prevent TCA but their downfall is that they are hard to reseal and sometimes very hard to pull out. The quality has improved but they will never have the advantages of the three mentioned above.

Now we get to the big issue: image! Wineries need to realize that they risk ruining the wine at the end of a very expensive and artistic process. I have heard that the Bordelais are bottling 25% of the next vintage with alternative closures -great start!

Restaurants need to get over the "It's not romantic." mind set. What will ruin an evening more then a tainted bottle of wine? Consumers need to realize it is about the wine, not about the closure.

A dear friend and customer named Jim refuses to buy non-corked wines. He is a gourmet chef, artist, wine lover, perfectionist and hopeless romantic. He spends many weekends at his cabin on the Susquehanna River. One Saturday night he will be down to his last bottle, the sun will be setting, the meal ready and everything perfect except the wine...

So the next time you purchase a bottle of wine, remember these new closures are a great step forward -a needed protection for both the wine and the wine lover.

Besides Domaine Des Baumard here are a few recommendations for alternative closures:

Montes Sauvignon Blanc Casablanca 2006 $10.99 Stelvin
Woop Woop Shiraz 2005 $10.99 Zork
Perrin Reserve Cotes du Rhone $9.99 Stelvin
Matrot Bourgogne Blanc 2005 $15.99 Stelvin
Schuman-Nagler Rheingau Riesling 2005 $12.99 Stelvin