Storage of screwcapped wines?

Can screwcapped wines support medium or long term storage on their sides rather than upright? it seems counterintuitive.
Yep. For screwcap seals the storage position (vertical or horizontal) doesn't matter (i.e., no need to keep a cork moist to ensure limited oxygen ingress - the oxygen ingress will be the same no matter the bottle position for a screwcap seal).
 
Yep. For screwcap seals the storage position (vertical or horizontal) doesn't matter (i.e., no need to keep a cork moist to ensure limited oxygen ingress - the oxygen ingress will be the same no matter the bottle position for a screwcap seal).
And the wine won't corrode the seal in any way with long-term contact?
 
My experience here is the same... have tried screwcapped wines with age stored horizontal / vertical with no apparent difference (not a contemporaneous like for like tasting but broadly similar age for similar wines at different times).... to be fair though they were largely Australian Rieslings so pretty indestructable in any case
 
I have aged Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay under screwcap in a normal/horizontal way for nearly 20 years with no ill effects whatsoever.
Never corked, always consistent :cool: and ages quite slowly.
My last bottle of 2007 drunk in January
2007 Neudorf Chardonnay Moutere - New Zealand, South Island, Nelson, Moutere
Blind. Clean and crisp. A touch of fennel. Rich but perfectly balanced. Lovely harmonious mouthful; perfectly proportioned and jewelly. A steady and assured performance, just dwindled slowly after 2 hours. ****1/2
 
My experience here is the same... have tried screwcapped wines with age stored horizontal / vertical with no apparent difference (not a contemporaneous like for like tasting but broadly similar age for similar wines at different times).... to be fair though they were largely Australian Rieslings so pretty indestructable in any case
I have had screwcap wines lying on their side for at least 20 years, again mostly Aussie Riesling. My Mesh from the early 2000s might be almost drinkable.
 
Why do you keep them on their sides, Kevin?
Hello Thom

It wasn't a conscious decision to store them upright or lying down. Obviously I have many dozens of my own wines stored standing up in cartons and many purchased screwcap wines in cartons stored standing up, but in my early days I used to store everything in racks lying down. Basically, the rieslings went into the riesling section regardless of whether they were cork or screwcaps. And as I suspect I am like many people and I buy much more riesling than I actually drink, many have been lying back waiting for the appropriate moment for many years.

I must say I have miles more confidence that my screw-capped rieslings from the early 2000s will be drinking well than I do that my Germans from the same period will be pristine.
 
So they don’t fall over when the earth shakes.
Interesting you say that. I was standing in front of my racks, deciding what to pull out for dinner drinks, when we had quite a big earthquake and everything started to shake. I braced myself to catch everything as they fell. There were only a couple that came loose and I managed to catch them. I call them racks but they are actually bins with up to 18 bottles in each, all resting on top of each other. Once one bottle goes, many others tend to follow.
 
What are people's experiences with failed screw caps (excluding damage)?
I have a zero failure rate with screwcaps, and I store almost all of them laying down (purely as this is more convenient).

I have drunk plenty of screwcapped wines with significant age (20-25 years) and all are ageing perfectly and consistently within a case. I am 100% sold that it is by far the best closure for a bottle of wine.
 
For a long time the reputation was that ageing was different than under cork. When did they solve that?
It is different - it's consistent :p

In all seriousness, I always got the impression that was just propaganda used to promote the use of corks and create doubt about (then unknown) long term ageing under screwcap. As screwcaps have now been widely used for long enough, the evidence is surely overwhelming that there is no issue with long term ageing?

But I'm not a winemaker, everything I've said is just my own opinion based on personal experience.
 
I think it was the cork people that needed to "solve that" rather than the screwcap producers.
Do screwcapped wines age at the same pace with the same outcome as cork?

Is there significant variation in ageing outcomes between different types of screwcap?

Are they better or worse for good maturation than the various modern cork-related alternatives?
 
I'm a romantic, so I have an affection for the whole drama of removing the capsule and pulling a cork, taking special care with an older cork. In the early days of screw caps I associated them with industrial bulk wines, and I suppose that is the image they are still shaking off. Clearly screw caps are efficient. My wife definitely prefers them when opening bottles for people.
 
IR hosted an Edelstone themed off-line in 2019 & I also took along 2002 Dutschke Shiraz Single Vineyard St. Jakobi Vineyard under cork & screwcap. There was no real difference, with cork maybe a tad fresher. I have one bottle remaining under screwcap which I will open this week.
 
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