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Amount (in millions of U.S. dollars) that Jackson Family Wines now saves per year as a result of shaving 2 ounces of weight from glass bottles used for Kendall Jackson and La Crema wines. Glass is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions by wineries. By using lighter bottles on just 2 brands, Jackson Family Wines has cut their emissions by 4-5%.

The first modern wide-scale studies of screw caps for fine wines took place in Australia.

Answer: True.

While screw caps had been used to a small extent in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s (mostly in Europe for ultra-cheap wine), the situation changed radically in the 1990s when Australian vintners undertook the first studies using fine wines. At the time, the incidence of cork taint often ran to 10%, and many Australian winemakers were convinced that they (along with New Zealand winemakers) were often sent the worst batches of Portuguese cork. Subsequently, a group of Clare Valley producers in South Australia pooled their resources and bottled their 2000 rieslings under screw cap. Studies done on the wines revealed that the wines retained an amazing level of freshness over time, showed virtually no bottle variation, and best of all, didn’t get corked. Today, Australia along with New Zealand are considered the two countries that initiated a screw cap revolution.

“It takes me twelve minutes to eat a good plate of food and two hours to drink a good bottle of wine, so who cares about the food?”

—Peter Barry
Winemaker/Owner of the Australian estate Jim Barry

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