What’s a green wine drinker to do? The cork versus screw cap battle is getting increasingly dirty. The issue of environmental credentials has entered the fight and that is yet to have closure – so to speak. So for the wine drinker with a green tinge, how do they stack up?

There is nothing more annoying or environmentally wasteful than tipping wine down the sink because cork taint has ruined it. Cork taint is the mouldy flavour that deadens the wine and is imparted by a 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, or TCA. This amazingly intense chemical can be detected in white wines in two parts per trillion.

How it comes about and how it gets into cork is one of the wine world’s most hotly debated issues but it seems that, like most of the problems besetting the human race, we brought it on ourselves. When moisture is present, common microscopic fungi such as aspergillus and penicillium convert chlorophenols that have ended up in the cork bark through the use of pesticides into TCA.

Cork companies claim their corks account for less than 1 per cent of tainted wines. Other more independent studies show figures of between 5 and 7 per cent. But if your definition of cork taint is any effect on the wine from the cork, then the figure is more like 10 to 12 per cent.

In defence of the cork, it is a sustainable industry. After bark is stripped off the trees, regrowth occurs which is ready to be harvested nine years later. A cork tree takes about 25 years to reach the right size and has a commercial life span of about 150 to 200 years or about 16 harvests. Cork is recyclable and biodegradable. But, that’s where the good green news ends.

After being stripped from the trees the cork is left to season. This is thought to be the time that the cork picks up the TCA. Travellers in Portugal are often bemused to see piles of cork sitting outside in the damp, and wonder if a better seasoning method might be preferable to applying chemicals later. Apparently cork that comes in contact with damp ground is used for flooring but a little TCA goes a long way. After seasoning the cork is disinfected, cut into shapes, washed with hydrogen peroxide and treated with ozone. Some are glued; some are even covered with plastic to protect the wine from the cork. The process is about the TCA, not the cork, and in a TCA-free world, cork would be a truly green industry.

A screw cap, on the other hand, is made from aluminium, which is very polluting to make. It has been estimated it takes as much electricity to produce one screw cap as running a TV for an hour. On the other hand, aluminium can be endlessly recycled. Of all the aluminium produced since 1886, two-thirds is apparently still out there as a Coke can, a 747 or a screw cap. Recycling aluminium saves on 95 per cent of the energy used to make new aluminium. So, in the scale of greenness, if you recycle your screw caps, you’re probably neck and neck with the cork pullers.

Arniston Bay Brand News:

When it comes to wine packaging the choice is much clearer for green consumers. Arniston Bay was one of the pioneers in pouch wine packaging. This revolutionary packaging has 80% less of a carbon footprint than wine bottles. It also has 90% less waste and takes up less space in a landfill than two glass bottles.

Another great thing is that wine can be stored up to one month after opening the pouch.

Source: smh.com.au