Glass stopper has class and convenience

Nothing remains the same forever. I recall a discussion a couple of years back with a Wellington taxi driver who shook his head when I said I came from Marlborough and we grew grapes. "Oh," he said, "It's no good – all those grapes. What a shame, there's no room left to grow anything else."

At the time I argued, saying that nothing ever remained the same and some people would probably move on from grapes – people are always looking for the next big thing. This will probably happen where grapes have been planted in marginal areas unsuited to quality fruit production. Land better suited to producing some other crop may well see change – maybe even a return to certain crops once popular in the province. You never know.

The same can be said of the way we seal our wines.

The debate still rages over whether screw caps are the seal to end all seals and because there is ongoing debate, new closures are coming on to the market from time to time.

We've written about composite corks and the Zork (a plastic closure with a tear tab – it pops like a cork when opened but can be easily reused to reseal the bottle). Now there's the glass stopper, which has a very sophisticated look and is made from a material that suggests "quality". It has the look of a decorative decanter stopper and it's easily recyclable. Flexible O rings fitted to it enable a sterile seal, while an aluminium over-cap and traditional neck sleeve provide protection and tamper evidence.

The glass stopper allows a bottle of wine to be opened easily – no corkscrew required – yet it maintains a sophisticated image, much as we used to attribute to cork closures. As the manufacturers of this seal say, it maintains some of the ceremony attached with opening a bottle of wine, namely the pulling of the stopper from the bottle.

The seal is near perfect and is robust over an extended timeframe. A bottle of wine can be laid down in the cellar without concern over what the wine is coming in contact with in terms of plastics and glues.

This said, it is highly unlikely the wine needs to be "laid down" at all – as with other completely airtight seals, the wine can simply stand on the shelf. Of course, all the seals that have been invented to replace corks are the result of mining and manufacturing processes that produce something that requires even more processing if it is to be recycled. Cork simply grows on trees and eventually rots away when it is returned to the earth. The biggest mistake the cork manufacturers ever made was to have sloppy processing methods, producing corks that fouled the wine they were supposed to be preserving.

Ad Feedback We haven't seen any evidence of the Zork or glass stoppers catching on in New Zealand, but some wine producers are still using cork for their "serious" wines that have good cellaring potential.

Mount Dottrell Cromwell Basin Pinot Grigio 09

Aroma: A gentle aroma with soft notes of peach, apricot and toffee. Some indistinct tropical fruitiness also shines through.

Taste: Firm acids and some granny smith apple flavour sits well alongside the slightly sweet crystallised ginger spiciness. The delicate taste of ripe peach comes through towards the finish, along with a gentle hint of lychee and cream. A wine with some depth of palate, quite delicate and drying. Promising but needs time for better integration of flavours.

Price: About $23.

Brennan Gibbston Pinot Noir 07

Colour: Crimson; ruby at meniscus, showing lovely depth.

Aroma: Spicy, charry oak, stinky in that pleasing meaty/barnyard kind of way. Late cherries and plums deliver an intense "Christmas cake" aroma complete with a dollop of marzipan. Given a shake-up, there are some celery and green herb notes.

Taste: Warming right across the palate; plums, mocha and almond flavours combine with firm acids, furry tannins and a pleasant smokiness. The palate becomes intensely herbal, finishing with spice, almond and ripe plum flavours. A wine with exceptional length.

Price: Absolutely delightful – $40.