…Twist-offs have gained varying levels of acceptance with the wine-buying public, and actually provide a reasonable alternative to natural cork.
Wine is ‘alive’ in the bottle and minute levels of oxygen are necessary for it to ‘live.’ It’s just a matter of how much oxygen. Natural cork can and does usually lead to a slow evolution in wines by allowing tiny amounts of oxygen into the bottle. But a cork can sometimes allow too much oxygen into the bottle leading to oxidization of the wine resulting in an undesirable nutty flavor. Inside the metal twist-off cap there’s an inner plastic liner that provides the seal with the bottle. This seal can actually be produced to allow a controlled level of ‘breathe-ability’ for wine makers. This control would seem superior to the unknowns associated with natural cork.
