Screwed Up

NEW YORK — Oenophiles take note: That $125 Metrokane Rabbit sterling corkscrew might not be the long-term investment you thought it was. For the last few years, some respected winemakers have been quietly moving toward replacing corks with admittedly less chic screw tops (the argument goes that bad corks can ruin 6 to 10 percent of total product, whereas screw tops are guaranteed to keep the wine as fresh as the day it was bottled). The latest, and perhaps most heralded, conversion comes out of New Zealand. Beginning this month, the acclaimed Cloudy Bay winery is offering its 2005 Sauvignon Blanc in screw top. The winemaker officially switched over all of its bottling from cork to screw top in 2004, but the 2005 Sauvignon Blanc is the first to enter the American market as such (next fall, the 2004 Pinot Noir will be available in screw top). Senior winemaker Eveline Fraser warns drinkers that, contrary to initial instinct, there is a proper way to open a screw top, and it’s not the same as opening a bottle of soda. The torque needs to be different. “You can’t hold it at the skirt,” she instructs, referring to the aluminum that surrounds the bottle neck. “You have to get it from the bottom, like this,” she says, positioning her hand at the base of the bottle as if she was a sommelier presenting the wine. One twist and it’s off. Fraser is pleased with the vintage, and optimistic about the screw top’s future. “Good corks are great,” she says, “but nobody knows until you open the wine if it’s a good cork.”