Types of cork: which wine corks are best?

Every day, when you go to the supermarket or to a wine cellar to buy a bottle of wine, you will see many different wine corks. This could lead you to wonder what  the difference is between them and which wine corks are the best for keeping your wine safe.

If you have never paid attention to the type of wine corks you are purchasing, we suggest that you start noticing!  It’s really important to recognize which wine corks are the best! In this article we will tell you why.

Different wine corks for many types of wine

Before revealing which wine corks are the best, let’s list the different materials wine corks can be made of:

1. Synthetic corks
2. Glass corks
3. Natural corks
4. Screw corks
5. Crown corks

Synthetic wine corks

Synthetic corks are not silicone corks, as some people may think, but they are produced with silicone rubbers. Contrary to popular belief, synthetic wine corks are not toxic.

Instead, this type of wine cork is a good solution for preserving wine to spoil by preventing oxygen from coming into contact with the wine and for its organoleptic properties which cause the synthetic cork to provide sufficient insulation without crumbling. 

But be careful, because this only applies to young wines. In fact, after 4-5 years the synthetic cork tends to change its shape, losing elasticity, causing air to infiltrate the bottle thereby compromising the properties of the wine.

 Therefore, synthetic wine corks should not be used for aging wines and if this should happen, with almost absolute certainty, it will not be a good wine!

Glass Wine Corks

The charm of glass corks is out of the question as is their efficiency. Glass seems to be one of the best materials to protect wine because it does not change in any way the properties of the product and is immune to the effects of time.

The method of opening is simple and does not require the use of special tools to open the bottle.

Screw Wine Corks

In recent years, however, the potential of screw wine corks has been re-evaluated thanks to the technological innovation which has led to the creation of perfectly insulated screw corks, which do not allow air to infiltrate the bottle in any way and therefore guarantee the proper conservation of wine.

But are we sure that this is the right choice?

Micro air infiltrations, after all, are essential to develop certain aromas in the wine and to emphasize its pleasing taste.Therefore, screw caps would be good for young wines that should be enjoyed immediately or within a few years of bottling. The same cannot be said for aging wines that need special treatment, such as caps made of cork!

Natural Wine Corks

Natural cork certainly is one of the most expensive materials on the market to be used for wine corks. It’s a long process to create a cork with the correct attributes to properly seal a bottle of win.  But cork undoubtedly has different qualities that are not found in other materials.

That’s the reason why wine makers and wine lovers in general always prefer cork caps over others. There must be a reason for this, no?

Let’s see the advantages of using cork caps:

• it is waterproof and elastic, factors that ensure excellent adherence to the neck of the glass bottle by isolating the wine from external elements
• It has natural micro-nutrients that allow a very slow oxygenation of the wine; a key process for an optimal evolution of organoleptic qualities that give the wine personality, roundness and elegance.
• It has a timeless and traditional charm as well as being the best material in history  to enhance the properties of aging wines.

Therefore, as we have determined, there is no perfect material for wine corks, but simply corks that are better than others with respect to the particular wine and its aging requirements. 

As a result, there is no fixed rule or standard answer for establishing which wine corks are best. However, our favourite wine caps are made with cork wood, as we have previously stated. 

Now you’re wondering what kind of cork we chose for Papa Vince Wine, aren’t you?

Since Papa Vince wines are high quality wines, we could only choose the best possible wine caps, the ones made with natural wood cork to guarantee our wine can age in complete safety with its organoleptic properties naturally enhanced, along with its aromas.

Moreover, for us cork is also a material that recalls tradition, the most important value that guides us also in the phases of wine production itself.