Jacob's Creek popping its corks

It's about time to retire all those old jokes about bad wines and screw caps.

Jacob's Creek (the namesake stream is seen here), a respectable name on the Australian wine scene, is getting rid of corks on all its wines and using twist-off caps to, as a company announcement put it, safeguard the "quality and consistency" of its wines.

All of the winery's lower-priced wines will convert in the next few months, to be followed by the same move for its premium Heritage Range wines by late in 2007.

Adrian Atkinson, development director at parent company Pernod Ricard, said in a statement, "'Responding to the demands of retailers, consumers and our wine-making team, the decision has been taken to put the entire Jacob's Creek range under screw cap in order to preserve fruit flavours and guarantee consistently high quality."

The matter of screwtops vs. corks has been heatedly debated for several years. Proponents of the change say screwtops prevent contamination of wines. Those in favor of corks say the small amount of oxygen they allow into the wine helps the aging process.

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