No cork pop! Bubbly set to have screw caps

Australia's leading wine research body could be just months away from commercialising a screw cap on fully-carbonated sparkling wines.

The Australian Wine Research Institute and South Australian manufacturer SPS Australia International are testing suitable caps, which would be welcomed by the restaurant and hotel trade.

Warren Roget from the Research Institute said cork taint remained a problem and the convenience of screw caps in retail and hospitality would see more sparkling served by the glass.

He said more consumer market research was still needed.

"It's reasonable to expect from when this actually launches in full-scale production, whether that be in six months to a year's time, that there will be a conversion of some of that market share," he said.

"Exactly how big, it remains to be seen and that will be somewhat dependant on how well the product performs during its validation testing."

Louisa Rose, the head of winemaking at Yalumba, said market research would also determine if the move would work for both domestic and international markets.

But for the restaurant trade, she could envisage the benefits.

"Having something to screw back on again to hold the bubbles in until the next glass is a good thing," she said.

"Potentially it is fantastic technology but, like all things, the devil is in the detail and the detail for these sort of things is absolutely in what the consumer is going to accept."

Source: ABC News, 1 March 2013