What's in a top?

Probably one of the most asked questions we get in the tasting room is "Why screw tops?"

To answer, we gotta give a little background on our history with natural corks. When we did our first vintage in 1998 we were using only the best natural cork available. Natural cork comes in "grades". The higher the grade of cork, the smaller the "holes" or air pockets and the firmer the cork. Even though natural corks are cleaned and sterilized with peroxide or an SO2 solution, it's impossible to get in all the nooks and crannies of the cork. So, even by purchasing the highest quality cork, we are still facing 2-5% infection rate of corks. By infected, we mean that 2-5% of the corks could come to us with what's called "TCA" commonly known as cork taint. A corked or tainted wine gives off a moldy or wet dog smell noticeable when you open the bottle.

With that said, we were concerned with the quality of our wine after it was bottled. We knew it was good going in, and it's important to us that you have a consistent, clean, amazing experience with our wine so...we made the leap to screw top! Here's why we're screw top fans:

• Our screw tops make for a clean closure so no leaks 
• The foil liner inside the cap still allows for air exchange keeping the wine alive in the bottle
• No contamination from infected corks
• No over-oxidation from an ill fitting cork
• The screw tops hold the fruit and keep the wine intact, fresh, and bright as can be

During Zinfandel Festival, we brought out a few older vintages from the library including the 05 Zinfandel which was one of the first to get the screw top and guess what? It tasted amazing!

So almost 10 years later, we are loving the screw tops and so are our wines. Grab a bottle, a few glasses, some friends, and viva la screw top!

Cheers,
ZC Crew