There have always been arguments about the best way to keep wine. No doubt they started when the first thirsty traveller decided to make his wine supply portable by pouring from an earthenware amphora into a goatskin bag or a pig’s bladder. Winemakers still disagree about the proper equipment in which to ferment and age wine – pottery, concrete, fibre-glass, stainless steel tanks, glass bottles and wooden barrels all continue to be used. They find what works for each wine.

For the last two or three centuries, bottles with natural cork stoppers have been used both to finish the aging process, and deliver the wine to the consumer. Like the amphora, these present some problems with transportation, notably weight and fragility, and taint due to poor quality or infected corks. Recently, bag-in-box, cans and plastic bottles have been tried, along with plastic or composite corks, glass stoppers, crown corks and screw caps. Now the results of these new containers are being tested scientifically.

Just before the start of the London International Wine Fair, the magazine Packaging News published reports of a study being undertaken by the Institute of Vine and Wine Studies at the University of Bordeaux (ISVV). They report that wines (especially white ones) stored in single or multilayer plastic containers deteriorate rapidly due to oxidation and the loss of carbon dioxide, with noticeable changes in flavour after six months. Similar results have been widely noted for bag-in-box, but these faults were said to be due to leaking seals: the PET bottles were hermetically sealed. It seems that gases can permeate the plastic selectively.

How much does this matter? For the types of wine being bottled in plastic, industry studies have shown that the majority are consumed within 48 hours of purchase. That is fine if they have been freshly packaged, but a cause for concern if stock remains for months on the shelf. Packers must be encouraged to put a bottling date on the label.

For wines that are meant to age, there does not seem to be an immediate alternative to glass: the cork against screw cap argument will persist until the results of studies on that subject are in.

Let us know your experiences with bad bottles and alternative packaging.