The “Third Stream” wine closure

As the pro-cork and the pro-screwtop wine closure camps take turns bashing each other in their respective heads, a third alternative is slowly (and perhaps too slowly) cropping up: the glass closure. The advantages that this kind of seal has over both corks and screwcaps are pretty easy to identify. Glass closures beat cork hands down on “cleanliness”,reliability, convenience, and recyclability issues: no cork taint (”corked” wines), no chance of closure failure issues like crumbly corks breaking upon removal and falling into your wine, NCN (no corkscrew necessary), and the fact that these closures are glass, and can therefore be recycled just like the bottle that actually holds the wine.

Glass closures’ advantages over screwcaps are also multifold. The screwcap’s greatest disadvantage is one of image - for some, screwcaps are and always will be tacky - simply reminiscent of $1.99 bottles of rotgut, or even worse, soda pop. And while glass closures do not carry the history or the romance that corks do, since there is little precedence for these closures, there is no stigma attached to them either. Additionally, the actual “hands on” use of these closures is indeed a little more elegant than the screwcap: there is that capsule to cut and remove, and when the glass stopper itself is removed, there is that little suck of air into the neck. Granted, it’s not the “pop” of a cork (even though “popping” a cork is considered bad etiquette), but it’s a hell of a lot better than the “crack”, “scrape”, and “rattle” of opening a screwcap…

The other elements that might factor into this argument are two. First is the “re-sealability” issue which in my albeit limited experience with glass closures, leaves the new method about as efficient as the “hammer the cork back in the neck with the heel of your hand” process and perhaps a hair better than the protection a tightly screwed-down screwcap will provide. The biggest sticking point with the glass closure is cost. Corks can be more costly if the very finest quality and longest sizes are employed, but at least for right now, glass stoppers are more expensive to produce, though as harvestable cork oaks become more and more scarce, the scales may tip in the other direction later if not sooner.

Synthetic corks lately seem to be losing ground as fast as they gained it about 4 or 5 years ago.Yes they are “clean”, they are not as stigmatized as screwcaps, and are cheaper to produce than either corks or glass closures (not sure about screwcaps - anyone?), but they are an ecological nightmare, so the more environmentally conscious EU regulations have limited these closures, and the many eco-friendly west coast producers have self-regulated, and eschewed their use.

There are always the pros that go with the cons for each of these types of closures - which of these is the least of all evils for you?

TOM CIOCCO