A Bordeaux second growth chateau will be bottling wine under screwcap, it was revealed today.
UK wine merchant Bibendum said 12,000 bottles of Les Tourelles de Longueville, the second wine of Paulliac chateau Pichon-Longueville, will be bottled with the closure.
The Deluxe Stelvin-topped wines are destined for British restaurants and bars where Bibendum distributes Les Tourelles exclusively to the UK on-trade.
The wines will be officially released on 1 April but are available now. The first wines under the new closure will be from the 2004 vintage.
The move follows pressure by Bibendum on the producers and distributors of Pichon-Longueville to trial screwcap.
‘The idea is to be innovative and interesting,’ said Bibendum wine buyer Ian Muggoch. ‘Screwcap is delivering in terms of quality and highlights the crisp, pure fruit sides of red wine.’
However, the announcement comes at a time of negative press for screwcap, with UK experts claiming at least one bottle in 50 could be tainted with a ‘rotten egg’ smell of sulphur.
This was downplayed by Muggoch who said it was a quality issue and ‘all down to how the wines are made’.
Bibendum communications manager Ben Smith underlined that sales of Les Tourelles to wine merchants, high street shops and private customers would continue to be bottled with cork.
Written by Oliver Styles
