By BARBARA NOWAK
and BEVERLY PITTMAN
The Saucy Sisters, for Brentwood Home Page

We’re on a mission to elevate the reputation of screwtop wines and have selected our top 10 from among the thousands currently available.

More and more wines are screwing off – if you’ll pardon the pun – and we’re not talking about cheap swill.  It used to be that screwtop wines were associated with winos guzzling from brown paper bags.  Ingrained images are hard to forget, but times have changed.

The serious transition to screwtops began when an estimated 5-10% of wines were being spoiled because of corks infected with a chemical compound called TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole).  Wine producers looked to alternative closures to solve the problem, and the screwtop emerged as the most popular choice to date.

According to recent surveys, U.S. wine drinkers are not yet convinced that screwtop wines are a good choice.  While consumers in other countries such as New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom have overwhelming adopted the twist-off, American wine buyers still associate cork with quality. 

We have some practical reasons for liking screwtops in addition to solving the problem of “corked” wine and have spelled them out in our new book, The Saucy Sisters Guide to Wine – What Every Girl Should Know Before She Unscrews.  Among them:  No performance anxiety with unscrewing; no need to pack a corkscrew that ends up being confiscated by the TSA; you can lay down half-empty bottles in the fridge without their leaking.

Our Top 10 list of screwtop wines for 2011 encompasses a variety of wine regions, varietals, styles and price points.  In ascending order of approximate average price, the wines are:

Lonely Cow Sauvignon Blanc – Marlborough, New Zealand – $10

Crios de Susana Balbo Rosé of Malbec – Mendoza, Argentina – $12

Barista Pinotage – Paarl, South Africa – $13

Von Schleinitz Slatestone Dry Riesling – Mosel, Germany – $14

Clayhouse Vineyard Malbec – Paso Robles, California – $15

Inman Family Chardonnay – Russian River Valley, California – $30

Patrice Rion Côte de Nuits-Villages  – Burgundy, France – $30

Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir – Williamette Valley, Oregon – $35

Yalumba “The Virgilius” Viognier – Eden Valley, Australia – $40

Mollydooker Carnival of Love Shiraz - McLaren Vale, Australia – $95

We have nothing against corks.  But let’s face it.  If we were inventing wine today for the first time, what’s the likelihood that we’d plug the bottle opening with a piece of bark from a tree in Portugal?

Cheers!

Barbara and Beverly

The Saucy Sisters are wine and spirits experts with a twist. A twist of humor, that is, that they use in their books and in their live performances.  Their new book, The Saucy Sisters Guide to Wine – What Every Girl Should Know Before She Unscrews, is now available at www.SaucySisters.com .   You can call them with your comments at 615-807-1743 or email them at Saucies@SaucySisters.com.