This week Wine.com introduces a brand new section of our shop, devoted entirely to wines sealed with screw caps. As more and more producers turn to this new way of protecting their fine wines, here are the answers to some typical questions about the development of screw caps.

Aren't screw caps only for lesser wines?  Not at all. In the past, yes, screw caps were mainly used for cheap supermarket wines. But in recent years many top-quality winemakers have become convinced that screw caps actually protect wine better and preserve its true flavor longer than cork. Many studies support this idea.

What could be wrong with classic cork?  The main problem is cork taint caused by 2,4,6-trichloranisole (or TCA), a compound which develops in a small percentage of all corks produced. TCA ruins the taste of wine, adding a distinctive musty aroma of wet newspapers or cardboard. This is known as "corked" wine.

TCA affects 5% or more of all bottled wine, though the casual drinker may not always recognize it. Nobody quite knows how TCA gets into corks, or why it chooses one cork and not another. The cork industry is spending heavily on TCA research, in hopes of solving the problem and preventing more wineries from turning to alternatives.

If I see bits of cork in my wine, does that mean it is "corked"?  No. TCA has nothing to do with the harmless bits of cork which may fall into wine when you open it.

Do screw caps prevent TCA?  Yes. Metal screw caps contain no cork. A synthetic pad inside the cap helps seal the wine completely.

How do screw caps compare to cork otherwise?  There are two kinds of screw cap advocates: those who feel the screw cap is superior to cork always and everywhere, and those who feel screw caps are superior for wines meant to be drunk young and fresh. (Which is about 90% of the wines produced around the world.)

Some winemakers feel that cork allows a wine to "breathe" just a tiny bit in the bottle, and that this process is essential for quality long-term aging. For wines that spend 10, 20 or 30 years in a cellar, the jury on screw caps is still out. It may never be in: wine, after all, is a matter of personal taste. (And thank heaven for that!)

Screw caps do add convenience in opening (no corkscrew needed) and in resealing a half-finished bottle (no fighting to wedge the cork back into the neck). And they protect wine better than cork in extremely dry conditions.

So why isn't everyone using screw caps?  Money, tradition and fear of the unknown. Few winemakers have wanted to buck centuries of cork tradition, or to take a chance on a new kind of closure after they've spent months or years producing a wonderful wine. Some feel that consumers will reject screw-capped wine for esthetic reasons, preferring the old-fashioned pop of the cork. And it can cost up to $100,000 to install a new screwcap line in a winery, which is more than chump change for many a smaller winery.

What wineries are using screw caps?  Some of the better-known names which have bottles in screw caps include Fetzer, WillaKenzie Estate, Bonny Doon, Pepi, d'Arenberg, and Villa Maria. New converts seem to arrive every week: in June of 2004, Washington's Hogue Cellars announced that it will be putting all of its Fruit Forward line in screw caps. The winery's own multi-year study indicated that screw caps kept its wine fresher.

What's the difference between a Stelvin cap and a screw cap?  Stelvin is a brand name of the most prominent screw cap maker, the French firm Pechiney. (Think of Xerox and copiers.) So a Stelvin is a screw cap, but not all screw caps are Stelvins.

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