Screwcaps 'best thing ever' for fine wine – Tyrrell

Australian winery boss Bruce Tyrrell says screwcaps have been the “greatest thing that’s happened” for sales of his company’s fine wines.

He said that sales of Tyrell's premium Semillons – the company’s signature wines – grew 25-30% within six months of the company abandoning natural cork for metal closures.

In a flagship speech this morning, Tyrrell told the Fine Wine 2010 conference – organised by Ribera del Duero’s Consejo Regulador de la Denominacion de Origen and managed by Wine Intelligence – that for Semillon “the slightest hint of taint on a cork will stand out like a dunny on a ridge”.

Tyrrell added: “With screwcaps there are no disappointments and we can’t afford to have any.

“Fine wine has to be a great experience every time it hits the table.”

Tyrrell said Australian wine owed a lot to the UK market but was now being “questioned on quality”.

He added: “Ten years ago the price of good drinking wine was £3.99 and today it’s still £3.99. You can’t continue to maintain the same quality without a shift in price.”