Screw cap manual released at London Wine Fair

Screw cap manual to be released at London Wine Fair

Taming the screw: A manual for winemaking with screw caps will be released next month at the London International Wine & Spirit Fair. This exhaustive technical manual details all of the procedures relevant to the use of screw caps on bottled wine.

Australian wine writer Tyson Stelzer is the author of the 336-page hard cover manual, with Australian winemaker Jeffrey Grosset and New Zealand winemakers Michael Brajkovich MW and Dr John Forrest serving as contributing editors.

“The concept of a screw cap manual was borne out of a concern that the complexities associated with the use of screw caps on premium wines were not widely understood and that this lack of knowledge could damage the reputation of the producers and the closure,” says Grosset.

“This book helps to address the biggest fear I had when we started using screw caps,” adds Forrest. “Producers using the closure with less than successful results could tarnish the image of the screw cap.”

The recent rapid growth in the use of screw caps internationally has placed the demand for information and experience in working with screw caps at a premium. The priority remains for the wine industry to ensure that the principles of best practice are made accessible to every producer in every country. It is the purpose of this book to provide a means for this worldwide dissemination of information.

While a great deal of knowledge about screw cap usage exists in some individual companies, there is clearly a need for a practical ‘how to’ guide for winemakers, particularly those new to the technology. Brajkovich emphasises that this publication “is an opportunity to share knowledge and experience in the subject, to allow practitioners to make more informed decisions about critical factors such as fill height and sulphur dioxide levels, with the ultimate aim of avoiding the problems which may arise during winemaking and bottling.”

The manual draws together the knowledge and experience of numerous wine scientists, winemakers, bottle manufacturers, cap suppliers, bottling companies and industry consultants.

“It is very much a tribute to the work of the many hundreds of individuals who have pioneered the use of screw caps, particularly in Australia and New Zealand, over more than three decades,” says Stelzer. It is fitting that the foreword has been written by one of the earliest of these pioneers, Dr Bryce Rankine.

Grosset sums up his enthusiasm for the project: “The widespread use of an inert wine closure that works is indeed exciting for those who love wine. No more pouring down the drain wine that the closure has made undrinkable! We can now look forward to enjoying great wine, not just great bottles. This book explains it all.”

Taming the screw: A manual for winemaking with screw caps is an essential reference text for any industry professional working with screw cap closures.

Features

- Detailed technical discussion of the screw cap and the bottle, reasons for choosing screw caps, winemaking procedures, chemistry, bottling, capping, handling, storage and ageing.

- More than 200 technical drawings, diagrams and photographs.

- Detailed brand-specific data sheets and specifications.

- In-depth quality control procedures.

- Detailed trouble-shooting guides.

- Comprehensive index.

- Full-colour hard cover; 336 black & white pages.

- RRP NZ$99.95 + freight.

- Published by Wine Press. ISBN 0 9580628 4 6.

Proceeds from the sale of the manual contribute toward further closure research and education through the International Screw Cap Initiative, New Zealand Screw Cap Initiative and Australian Closure Fund.

© Scoop Media