I was standing on a Tuscan hilltop with one of the region’s great winemakers, Paolo de Marchi, when the call came through from his importer, Liberty Wines’ David Gleave MW. ‘David’s unhappy’, said Paolo; ‘at a wine dinner last night two of my Isole e Olena chianti classicos were corked’. He was talking of course about the problem of cork taint, which has become so prevalent that producers have been forced to find alternatives such as plastic, glass, and, most notably, the screwcap.

To Screw or to Pull?

Europe has been slow in communicating the screwcap’s ability to bring freshness and freedom from cork taint and random oxidation, nowhere more so than Italy. In the time-honoured name of tradition, the Ministerial Decree of 7 July 1993 allows Italian producers to use only cork on DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) wines, and their sub-zones. A handful of DOC zones, such as Soave and Valpolicella, have managed to amend their regulations to permit their wines to be bottled under screwcap. Yet the Ministerial Decree overrides these amendments, so DOC sub-zones such as Soave Classico and Valpolicella Classico are stuck with cork.

A number of top producers such as Nino Pieropan have dropped Classico status in order to use screwcap for some of their wines. Initially reluctant to abandon Classico, Nino has become an advocate of the screwcap, using it to preserve the freshness in the 2011 Pieropan Soave DOC 2011, £12- £12.99, Highbury Vintners (02072261347), Noel Young Wines, Cambridge (01223566744) a delightfully crisp and fragrant dry white made from the local garganega grape with a bouquet of lemon blossom and a delicately dry finish. After experimenting for five years, Andrea Felluga too has embraced the screwcap taking the 2011 Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio DOC Colli Orientali £24.95, Lea & Sandeman, to a new level of exotic nectarine and pineapple fruitiness.

The wrong-headed notion that screwcaps are fine but only for everyday wines and whites at that has been turned on its head by Paolo de Marchi. ‘My primary objective in winemaking is to preserve the purity of fruit. Sangiovese has a complex yet delicate fruit character and wines under screwcap show a purer, more focused fruit, and certainly more consistency. In my view, the choice of closure has little to do with the certification of origin. Certification should be based on the quality of the wine itself, including the purity of its expression of both variety and place.’

Closed with a screwcap, his fabulous supertuscan red, the 2008 Isole e Olena Cepparello IGT Toscana, £58.99, Liberty Wines (02077205350), is the quintessence of sangiovese, a flawlessly silky red of pristine mulberry fruit quality laced with liquorice-spicy undertones and savoury freshness. Like the other wines that have eschewed cork for screwcap, it makes a mockery of myopic Italian bureaucracy.

Something For The Weekend

Something for the Weekend 8 September

Couch Potato

Miolo Cuvée Tradition Brut Rosé NV Serra Gaúcha, Brazil

Bring on the spirit of Rio with this strawberry cup Brazilian fizz champagne-method blend of chardonnay and pinot noir, sweet-suggesting yet tantalisingly dry. £8.99, down from £11.99, until 23 September, Waitrose World of Wine Showcase.

Dinner Party

2011 Château Barthès, Bandol Rosé

The Mediterranean enclave of Bandol is one of Provence’s top spots for rosé made from mourvèdre, producing a mouthwatering blend brimming with of summer pudding fruit and a lively cranberry-like bite on the finish for shellfish and salads. £11.99, Majestic.

Splash Out

2010 Bodega Chacra Barda Pinot Noir, Rio Negro

From Bodega Chacra in Patagonia, one of the few Argentinian wineries to do pinot noir well, this is a seductively sweet red with a smoky red berry fruit quality and effortless elegance. £18.95, Lea & Sandeman (020 7244 0522).

Ends