Screw Top Summer Wines

I love the ritual of opening a bottle of wine.  Getting out my preferred wine opener, cutting the top off the foil capsule, and pulling out the cork with a satisfying pop.  But, screw tops definitely have their place in the world.  For wines not meant to be aged, I love the ease of a screw top bottle.  There’s no need to carry my Chateau Laguiole waiter’s corkscrew that I will be paranoid about losing, and there’s a built-in leftovers storage system (in the unlikely event of an unfinished bottle).

There are plenty of articles out there that debate the relative merits of different bottle closure methods. But, the bottom line is that a screw top is cheap, secure and user-friendly. More and more producers are on board with it, presenting wines meant to be consumed within a year of production in screw top bottles. And just because a wine is sold in a screw top bottle, don’t assume that it’s a low-quality wine. Wines across the spectrum are sold in screw tops. The ubiquitous Whispering Angel rose moved to the screw top format for this summer. Producers in Australia and New Zealand led the way, but wines from those regions as well as the Old World and the US are also selling wine this way. Some producers use screw tops for their more immediately accessible wines, and the traditional cork for wines meant to age, since corks are a time-tested and proven aging method.

I recently enjoyed a light lunch at the beach in Hawaii and brought along a Tuscan rose in a screw top bottle. The 2015 Il Poggione Brancato Rosato is 100% sangiovese. Red cherry, raspberry and minerality on the nose and palate, with good acidity. It was the perfect complement to our meal of smoked ahi spread, spicy crab poke and ahi poke. The acid cut through all the smokiness, creaminess and rich mouth feel of the spread and poke.

So don’t turn up your nose at screw top wines.  Try one for your next picnic!