CityLife

Screw-tops at Tesco

MORE than half of all wine sold at Britain's biggest supermarket chain now come in screw-top bottles.

Tesco said between 55% and 65% of wine in its stores had made the switch away from traditional corks.

Australian brand Penfolds last week became the latest producer to announce it was abandoning corks for one of its wines.

Its Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2004 vintage will instead be sold in screw-top bottles.

"The innovation came at the request of two of Penfolds' largest customers in the European region, Tesco in the UK and the Swedish monopoly, Systembolaget," the firm said in a statement.

Convenient

A Tesco spokesman said: "We are pleased that a popular and worldwide brand such as Penfolds has taken up screw cap which reduces instances of cork taint and oxidation and is also more convenient for our customers."

Wine brand Jacob's Creek last year announced it was ditching traditional corks in favour of screw caps across its range.

The new style bottle tops have attracted some criticism from wine experts because they do not allow small amounts of oxygen to reach red wines as they age.

But on the positive side, screw-tops prevent contamination caused by chemicals in some corks which can make wine taste musty.

Convenient or a loss of tradition? Have your say below.