After years of trying to answer this question specifically, as in, "My1998 Zinfandel" I have decided the best answer is general, as in (I'm not joking) "Buy a wine that is in a sturdy bottle, with a nice label and a good quality cork" and then I go on to say, if a winemaker is proud of what he/she is doing they will want to package it in as good a way as is financially possible. And top quality packaging is SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive than low end packaging. Of course it is possible that someone would buy expensive packaging for lousy wine, but I don't think that is the norm.

The next time you have the chance, check out the bottom of the normal 750 ml bottles in your wine store. Note that some have flat bottoms and others have an indentation, called a "punt" For many years I thought that this punt was for aiding in decanting, although it did not do anything to improve decanting in my experience, a good demonstration of "don't confuse me with facts, my mind is made up." As I got smarter, I realized that it might have another significance, although no one really seemed to know. Finally, I postulated that the punted bottles were more expensive, weighed more and were probably less prone to break. This proved to be correct, as asserted by an engineering consultant friend of mine. All the shock of a dropped bottle resonates to the bottom. And a thin, flat bottomed bottle will, as I am witness, shatter easily where the punted bottle will bounce intact.

So, as a high quality winemaker, I put all my wines in expensive bottles with punts. At $20.00 per bottle of wine, it makes sense to avoid breakage.

The same thought pattern can be used in cork selection, but there is an overspend factor there. A wine cork is a cylinder of bark, punched out of a sheet of cork tree bark, harvested by peeling the bark off the tree and then allowing the tree to regenerate bark for future harvest. Obviously, the longer the bark stays on the tree, the thicker it becomes. Corks are graded according to the imperfections and the length of the cork (thickness of the bark). A 1 1/2 inch cork is way less expensive than a 2 inch cork. But the longer cork is for long term aging of excellent red wine and so should not be found in a bottle that contains a short term wine, such as a sauvignon blanc or other white wine meant to be consumed shortly after release. There is no benefit to justify the cost, so you should expect a much shorter cork in a good quality white wine than in a good quality red wine.

As it is in many arenas, the true story is in the details; the more you know, the clearer the big picture becomes.
About the Author

Paul Kreider, who made his first wine in 1975, is the owner and winemaker of the Ross Valley Winery in San Anselmo, California. Since 1987, with notable success, his small Marin County bonded winery has specialized in transforming modest lots of unique grapes into vineyard-designated wines, each with its own individual character and particular personality. Check our website at www.rossvalleywinery.com.