The turn of the screwcap

"The sommelier presented the bottle with a flourish. I checked the label and nodded. He drew himself up and held the bottle before us like a religious object, gazing beatifically at a point somewhere over our heads. Then, with a deliberate, elegant motion, he unscrewed the cap… " wrote US wine writer Rod Smith in the Los Angeles Times recently, after visiting London restaurant Nahm. (Incidentally, the wine was a Mt Horrocks Riesling.)

You can just imagine the comments about screwcaps, once they start hitting our restaurants - and they will, you know, as soon as sommeliers and suppliers get their heads around the idea. The screwcap might even replace the cork one day, such is the excitement surrounding it. OK, so at the moment screwcap world domination remains among Riesling producers in the Clare Valley, Australia, where Stelvin rules. But a fair few Californians - and top labels at that - are also opting to use screwcaps.

Plumpjack Winery is one such producer. Its classy 1997 Reserve Cabernet at $135 (£88) a bottle first got the screwcap treatment in September 2000. While some might argue that that sort of wine needs ageing, the simple fact is that you don't need a cork to age serious wine.

Now the New Zealanders are getting in on the act. The New Zealand Screwcap Wine Seal Initiative, a group of 28 New Zealand producers, have formed a national body to promote the use of screwcap closures. They have produced manuals and conducted seminars, all with the same goal of winning over customers, particularly restaurants. "Won't my job be in jeopardy if wineries were to quit corks?" sommeliers wonder. Well, if the antics in the Clare Valley are anything to go by, then no. Research shows that the majority of diners there specifically requested the Stelvin bottlings of the Grosset Riesling. One restaurant was disappointed when it couldn't get any more Stelvin-closed Grosset, and had to take the Grosset with cork closure instead.

Check out the Clare Valley Rieslings next time you go shopping for wine. You might even find one on the list at your local restaurant, although these are still rare sightings. But things are about to change. New Zealand's second-largest winery, Villa Maria, will lead the way for screwcapped wines in the UK on-trade in October, when the new vintage of the more ubiquitous Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc is due to hit our shores.

But isn't this move a bit risky, considering the resistance to screwcaps over here? "There is a risk, but the greater risk is to do nothing," says Villa Maria Estate's owner, George Fistonich. "A significant percentage of our wines reach our consumers in substandard condition, due to cork taint. No other food or beverage manufacturer accepts this level of product failure. We have the opportunity to ensure that 100% of our wines reach our consumers in pristine condition by switching from using corks to screwcaps."

Well, when you put it like that, screwcaps here we come. Villa Maria believes that it's just a matter of education. And this is where Caterer comes in. The industry's top-selling weekly has decided to team up with the folks at Hatch Mansfield (Villa Maria's UK agent) to chart its screwcap progress, which starts with the Sauvignon Blanc and will follow with Villa Maria's other varietals. If all goes well, close to 50% of Villa Maria's production will be bottled with screwcaps.

With help from Hatch Mansfield's on-trade partner Matthew Clark, we will report on Villa Maria's progress, warts and all. Over the next year, we will be talking to those, both selling and buying, who will be attempting to change opinion on the matter. Why? Well, because we think screwcaps are a very good idea.

Cork producers appeared to win a reprieve after a study by the Wine & Spirit Association. The conclusion, after tests on some 13,000 bottles, was that only up to 1.2% of wines were corked. But that's still a lot of bottles.

OK, so sommeliers might have to endure an initial snigger or two as they crunch open the cap. But that will soon pass, once customers realise they don't have to go through the horror of questioning a wine's corkiness ("No, sir, I think you'll find that's the house style").

As New Zealand wine writer Bob Campbell MW puts it: "If you know that screwcaps will produce better and more consistent wine than corks, how can you continue to short-change your customers?"

Cork versus screwcap

What's wrong with cork?
Cork is a naturally occurring product and can cause two major quality issues in wine. A mould, known as 2, 4, 5 trichloranisole (or TCA, to its enemies), can develop in the bark and taint the wine, making it taste musty or "corked".

Also, because you can never produce the perfect glass cylinder inside the bottle neck, the cork can crease or split, allowing the air in. This process, known as oxidation, flattens the fruit and dries out the palate.

What is a screwcap, exactly? The top and sides are aluminium. Inside the top is a polyethylene liner covered with a special tin foil.

The secret of the Stelvin cap, developed in the late 1950s by a French manufacturer, is a foam liner with a saran-wrapped tin outer covering, which creates an airtight seal. The main difference between cork and screwcap is that screwcaps seal around the rim of the bottle, rather than along the internal surface of the neck.

When was it invented? Way back in 1889, Dan Rylands of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, patented the screwcap, but it wasn't introduced commercially until 1926, when it was used by White Horse Distillers. Sales of its brand doubled in six months.

Advantages? Elimination of cork taint and oxidation; wines which taste fresher and livelier; prolonged and controlled ageing; easy to open; resealable.

Disadvantages? There used to be a problem with leakage, but that's all sorted now; loss of ceremony surrounding the removal of the cork.

The response so far

Top New Zealand restaurants give their response to recent customer reaction to the screwcap.

Otto's: "People may comment, but when staff explain the reasons there is overwhelming support."

Soul: "All the wines have sold well in the restaurant and the owner now plans to use them in the bar for convenience and guaranteed quality."

Rocco: "Very positive - staff love them."

Essence: "Sales of wine have actually increased with the move to Stelvin."