Back in September I met up with Tim Adams in Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare. He’s a top bloke and winemaker in the Clare Valley South Australia. His sentiments on screwcaps echoed that of many Australian winemakers. In the last year, I’ve met quite a few Aussie winemakers. Without generalising what they share some common traits, the first of which is an open mind. Screw cap is the best closure, they feel, for now, but they’re perfectly willing to adopt whatever comes next.

The second shared trait is confidence. This was quite clear to me, again back in September, when I met up with three other winemakers, amongst them, Ben Glaetzer. Some of his Mitolo range, including the “Amarone-method” Serpico Cab costs around €50, yet it’s under screwcap.

Contrast this with Chile where on a recent trip I learned that they are reluctant to embrace screwcap because of the perception of cheap in some of their markets.

This, to me, is about a lack of confidence. Particularly when at a Chilean tasting last year, a significant number of bottles had been taken off the tables because of cork-related faults.

What do you think of screwcaps? Do you even care? Pop a comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts.